The First Missions - Missing Scenes
by BonesBird
Summary: Missing scenes from the story "The First Missions" as request by Nebula (mostly!)
1. Chapter 1

******OK, hi guys! Welcome to the latest fic. So. This one is written by request of the lovely Nebula for missing scenes from my other story "The First Missions" - so I strongly recommend you read that before you read this. Some (maybe most) will work as stand-alone oneshots, but they all slip in between chapters of the main story. This first chapter is set straight after TFM Chapter 1.**

_**July 2140**_

The team had all mostly left, leaving Jon and Sam to be the last to leave the briefing, and it was far more difficult for him to pretend that nothing was going on. Almost immediately Sam put on an innocent looking face and sidled up to his friend. The two of them had already been working together for a year, and that gave him an insight that maybe the others didn't have. He'd clearly seen something that he was going to use to his advantage. "You two seemed cozy?"

"What?" He asked, pushing the door and joining the throng of officers leaving the various projects for the day. Most were only just beginning, their teams getting to know one another, that included the pilots and support staff of the Warp 5 team. So far their only support was the comm officer, but Jon was sure that would grow, in time.

"You the comm officer. What was her name?"

"Erika." He shook his head, almost certain that Sam had remembered, and was just being an ass. Not completely unexpected from the pilot. Any of the pilots, actually. "She was interesting to talk too. The only one on the team who isn't a pilot." He made that point again, and he had to wonder how she was going to cope on the team of pilots, especially a group of pilots who weren't the nicest people to one another. The briefing had proven that. If the ego in their team could run a warp engine they'd already be passed warp 5.

"Where's the poop, Jon?" Sam asked, and the implication of the question was clear.

"What?" He tried his best to sound innocent, he was fairly certain that Sam wasn't buying the innocent lieutenant routine. He was going to keep trying though.

"Come on."

"OK. I may have flirted a little. She's cute." He had definitely flirted, and been very bad at it, just as he always had been.

"Yes she is." Sam agreed, a little bit of a leer in his voice, at which Jon turned and fixed him with a glare. Just enough to try and convince him to be less disrespectful in future.

"I know it sounds stupid, but I am already in love with that girl, and it's damned inconvenient." He admitted, more than a little embarrassed about it. He already knew what Sam was going to say about it. It was not going to be a shock. But rather than tease him as he'd expected, Same looked at him seriously for a moment, before clearly deciding that Jon was being serious.

"You've spoken to her for all of three hours!" Sam's face said everything about what he thought of Jon's ascertation, and yes, it was tacky, and cheesy, but he really did feel like he'd made a connection to Erika. It was probably in his head, but he was sure of it. That was part of the inconvenience.

"It's like in those old sailor movies. When they just know on seeing the girl that that is the girl they are going to marry." He grinned, somehow he could see it. It was one of the most ridiculous things in his entire life, but he was sure that, somehow, she was going to play a large part in his life. She certainly wasn't just a walk-on role. Or maybe he'd been watching too many movies. He was going to blame Ryan for that one.

"Are you going to tell her that?"

"Am I fuck." He shook his head, wondering why that question had even needed to be asked. Sure, he hoped that something might happen, might being the term, but he wasn't going to push for it, and he certainly wasn't going to tell her. Especially not something that out of context was possibly more than a little creepy. "We have to work together and that would be creepy and probably awkward."

"I've seen you with women. The term 'awkward' would be about as accurate as it can get." Sam grinned, and it took all of Jon's control not to chuckle as well.

"I really, really hate you." He muttered, shaking his head. He had expected a little bit of teasing from his friend, but he had hoped that maybe it would be a little more professional than it used to be.

"No you don't. You think I'm a wonderful wingman. You might as well forget her, Jon." Sam put his hand on Jon's arm, stopping them both in the middle of the corridor, and dropped his voice. "For one thing she's Starfleet, meaning she has more than half a brain, meaning that she's already too good for you. For another, she's our comm specialist, and you're going to have to work with her for the next few years, minimum." Sam had very good points, but Jon couldn't help but shake his head a little and resume walking along the long corridor that signified the centre of the NX Programme hub. Each team having it's own hangar, and the Warp 5 team, of course, being at the end.

"I'm not an idiot, Sam. I know all this. That is why I'm not going to be stupid about it. It's why you're also going to keep your mouth shut." He threatened before they parted, each going their own way. Jon was planning on going home and trying to forget about everything that had happened here, or calling his mother. She was always certain to tell him when he was being an idiot. Actually, on second thoughts, it might be better he didn't call his mother. He was almost at the exit when he heard Sam cough behind him.

"Tomorrow the hard work begins Jonathan." Sam shouted from the end of the corridor before ducking into the side room, Jon wasn't even certain which one it was.

"I will hurt you!" He shouted after his friend, the only other from the corps of test pilots who had joined the NX Programme. He knew, logically, that after such a short time he couldn't think anything of his and Erika's inexpert flirting, but there was something about it, something about her. He had never looked at someone before and felt like he already knew them. He wasn't stupid though, despite what Sam might think. He would just push his thoughts and feelings to the back of his mind, and hope that in time, it would be obvious whether or not he was right about her.


	2. Chapter 2

_**July 21st, 2140**_

Jonathan Archer had never had so much fun at the screening of a bad film, and no matter what Erika said, it had been a bad film. They were walking back in the direction of the warp 5 complex, he wasn't quite sure why, considering he lived downtown. He wasn't sure where she lived though, and he was just letting her lead the walk. He couldn't resist teasing her just a little more. "Wait, so, you're telling me that you actually like bad movies?" He smirked, desperately trying not to laugh. As it was she just looked at him with her own smile and nodded.

"I do. My brother teases me about it all the time. Has done since we were kids." She shook her head, and stopped a minute, looking like she wanted to clarify the point, at least a little. "I mean. I like the originals, from the 20th and 21st centuries, mostly, but yeah. I like bad movies, I'm not ashamed to admit it." She grinned again, but the thing he took out of her response was the tiny amount of personal detail she let slip through. Despite the month they'd been working together, he still didn't know very much about her.

"You have a brother?" He asked, stopping and leaning against the railing looking out over the bay. She stepped beside him a minute later, leaning backwards, looking away from the water.

"Yep, Simon." Her smiled grew a little, and it was obvious that she missed her family. Maybe talking about them wasn't the best idea. He was about to change the subject when she carried on speaking. "He's 28, getting married in a few months. You?"

"Only child. I've been pretty close with my cousin Ryan though, he's like a brother sometimes." He laughed, and wondered what Ryan would be thinking right now, considering he was normally back by this time on a Friday night.

"Older or younger?" Erika asked, pulling him out of his quick panic about Ryan.

"Younger, he's a high school teacher."

"Good profession. He'll never be without a job." That much was, relatively, true, though recently Jon had become convinced that Ryan only ever wanted to do sub work, and never really get a stable full time work. It worried him, but it definitely wasn't something he was going to go into, not when he was having such a good time getting to know Erika, so instead he thought of something generic to say.

"You'd be surprised. There is a reason he still lives with me." He smiled a little self-consciously and carried on before Erika could ask. "What does Simon do?"

"He's an accountant. Just like my parents." The tone change in her voice told him there was a story behind that, probably to do with the fact that she most definitely was not an accountant.

"You're the black sheep then?" He asked, hoping that he wasn't overstepping any unknown boundary by asking, she just wouldn't answer if he was. He knew her well enough to know that.

"A bit. My mom hates that I joined Starfleet. My dad just wants me to be happy." She smiled again, talking about her family seemed to be picking her up a little. He was happy about that, because she had seemed a little down since the end of the movie, and he'd thought at first that it wasn't a good idea, but now he realised that maybe it was what she'd needed. But the conversation made him think of something else he'd been meaning to ask her, because it was hard for him to guess at where she was from.

"Where are you actually from?" He wondered what he had said to cause her to look at him the way she was now, but then he realised that he hadn't explained why he needed to ask. "I can never tell with the linguists. It's like you're all trained to have no accent at all."

"In a way we are." She let that comment linger a minute, until he turned to her again. The look on her face made it hard for him to resist grinning like the idiot she'd clearly decided he was. "I was born and raised in New Mexico. You, I'm guessing you were raised in SF?"

"Born in Upstate New York, but yes, raised in San Francisco." He had to give it to her, she'd known. It wasn't exactly classified information, but he was also fairly sure that she wasn't going to have been snooping around his personnel file, no more than he had been hers.

"No wonder you joined Starfleet." She mumbled, and he tried not to pull a face at that. His reasons for joining Starfleet were definitely not something he wanted to talk about when he was having such a nice time on a warm summer night. He held an arm out for her to start leading the way again.

"Yeah, so, these designs." He asked, steering the conversation away from the increasingly personal topics back to the work at hand. He had all the blueprints in his pockets, so he knew they could work on them, once they got indoors somewhere. Erika though was shaking her head.

"I'm not that much of an engineer you know."

"I bet you're better than you think, you've hung around the pilots often enough." He had heard some of her arguments with Rob and AG, he knew that she had a decent engineering mind, but maybe, just maybe, she wasn't used to thinking of it that way. "I know you can do it."

"I mostly let you guys talk, and I nod vigorously. I'm the comm guy, I relay the orders. I'm not one of the builder guys."

"You might as well give it a try Erika, I'd like your input, even if it's bad input." He grinned, and she put a hand on his arm, stopping him outside an apartment complex and looking up at him with a confused look.

"You know, you can call me E like the rest of the team."

"But I like your name better. It suits you." The words fell out before he could even think of something better to say. He did like her name, and E just didn't do her justice. It sounded probably more than a little tacky, but until he could think of a suitable nickname, or one was presented to him, he wasn't going to shorten her to a letter. It was clear she was confused as to what he meant.

"Thanks?" She said, with a more questioning than thankful tone.

"I mean that in the least creepy way."

"I never doubted it." She laughed and opened the door, letting him in. He'd never thought he would learn quite so much about his newest friend just in the walk back from a movie night, but he was glad, and he suddenly knew a whole lot more about her, and felt a little closer to her than before.


	3. Chapter 3

**This is set a little after Chapter 2 of TFM**

* * *

**July 30th, 2140**

Another night out, and they had only just arrived, and already it was clear that the 602 was going to be busy this week. That would probably mean the Warp 5 team would be out before the main rush. She stood to one side of Jon, listening as the ordered, watching the scene unfolding at the other end of the bar. She wasn't sure she liked the look of it, and wanted a second opinion. "What do you think is going on there?" She asked, elbowing Jon lightly and pointing in that direction.

"I don't know?" Jon muttered to her, looking over and studying the scene for a moment. After another few seconds he started in that direction. "Hey!" He called, clearly deciding he was taking issue at the way the tiny blonde girl was being treated.

"Just leave it. Jon." She muttered, trying to push him on, but she didn't even move him.

"No. Hey. What do you think you're doing." He stopped just short of their preferred table, handing his drink to her, even as everyone stopped, aside from Rob, who put the drinks down on the table.

"Head off mate, this is nothing to do with you." Came a heavily accented response. Erika could only guess at where he was from, definitely northern England, probably Liverpool, possibly Manchester. She still sometimes confused the two, much to her own annoyance.

"You'd think that, but actually it does."

"I'm talking to this girl." He said, and Erika was overrun with the smell of cheap beer, and she wondered exactly how long this guy had been out here drinking.

"Doesn't seem she wants to talk to you. Do you want to talk to him?" Jon looked to the girl, who shook her head strongly, sliding off the chair and inching more toward the team of Starfleeters.

"Jon, come on." Sam said, patting Jon's shoulder, but Jon didn't move even an inch, not that that shocked her. She stayed stood beside him, looking between the two far taller men.

"Why don't you go with your friends, mate."

"I don't like bullies, mate." He said, using the same inflection of the pleasantry, somehow making it sound far more threatening. "And right now I don't like you. Erika, will you take her over to our table." He looked down at her briefly, and she knew right away that he wanted them both out of the way if this went south. Rather than arguing with him, she just put an arm round the girl's shoulder and lead her away, the young woman still didn't seem like she was in a position to talk, and that made Erika worry a little, as soon as they were at the table she put and arm around her again, letting the girl lean against her, but they were both watching what was going on nearby, they were still close enough to hear the conversation clearly.

"What says she wants to go with you?"

"She isn't going anywhere with me, she's sitting with my friend, and you are going to leave." Jon's commanding voice left not one inch of wiggle room. Erika found herself in a strange position of being both proud of Jon for sticking up for someone else, and wanting to hit him for putting himself in danger.

"Why should I listen to you?" The accented voice got louder, and took a step toward Jon, who didn't even flinch.

"Because I have three other pilots willing to back me up if you make one move against me." As if on cue, AG, Sam and Rob stepped forward, and the loudmouth looked them over before nodding to his friends, finishing his drink and turning to the door. The group collectively took a deep breath, none of them more than her. She knew that it was probably a good thing that they had protected the girl, who didn't actually look any older than 19, now that she looked at her.

"You shouldn't have done that Jon." AG said, clapping him as he sat. Erika could only agree with AG, it wasn't often a good idea to confront people like that, though she knew Jon had done it for the right reasons.

"Probably not, but boy did it feel good. Are you alright?"

"I think so. Thank you." She nodded, gripping Erika's hand again for a second before relaxing as everyone sat.

"Like I said, I don't like bullies." Jon said, sliding last into the booth, forcing her to move a little, she turned and fixed him with a small glare, to which he just grinned, before turning to their guest.

"Do you need a shuttle, or you can stay with us til your friends arrive, just in case he comes back?" She asked, and was unsurprised the girl nodded slightly and looked around them all.

"Thank you, all of you." The girl smiled, obviously genuinely grateful. Becoming a little more outspoken as the pilots began teasing one another again about the last set of tests.

"You should be careful Jon." She muttered quietly once everyone else had fallen into conversation. He leaned into her slightly, clearly intending to keep their conversation as private as was possible without directly whispering to one another.

"I've seen guys like him all my life, I knew he wouldn't do anything when confronted, bullies never do."

"Still, you're a senior Starfleet officer now." She tried to remind him, not certain if it would work, but she hoped it would. If only so she'd never have to see him get thrown out on his ass.

He scoffed and turned more toward her. "What would have happened to her if we hadn't stepped in Erika, do you really think she could have fought him off, and it was pretty obvious that she wasn't interested." He dropped his voice even lower, so that only she could hear him. Probably the best idea considering their saved victim was still sat on her other side, chatting about her studies with AG and Sam, obviously feeling a little more comfortable now.

"You have a point, just maybe don't be so confrontational next time." She admonished, knowing he wouldn't listen to her, and they also both knew there would probably be a next time. This was only their second night out as a group, but judging from that display, it wasn't the first time Jon had chased a loudmouth out of a bar, and she was certain it wouldn't be the last.

"But that takes the fun out of it." He smirked, and she had to take a long look at him before she decided if he was joking or not. Even after that she wasn't certain until the smirked turned into a smile.

"You're actually a psychopath sometimes." She laughed, punching him lightly in the thigh. He just shook his head at her.

"Only sometimes?" He grinned and turned back to the rest of the table. She just shook her head and sat back again, studying Jonathan as she did. She had always known he had a strict code of ethics, but she hadn't thought he'd go that far. Not when it was someone he didn't know, none of them knew. Being in a situation where you needed saving by a stranger probably wasn't the nicest to be in either, but at least Jon proved that, sometimes, chivalry wasn't completely dead.


	4. Chapter 4

**This is set just after Chapter 3 of TFM**

* * *

**Early November 2140**

Erika knew that she was probably fighting a losing battle with this one. However many times she tried to teach him the next set of words in her little pack, he wasn't getting any of them, and they were only on the first set. "Nope you've got to make it more gutteral" She said again, before demonstrating the word. Jon just did not have an ear for languages, nor a tongue that was designed for anything but English.

"That sounds like it's going well." AG said, sliding into the room and leaning against the counter, she fought the urge to throw something at him. While it didn't bother her that Jon was the ultimate failure at learning languages, she wasn't about to have it pointed out by anyone.

"We're only on the third set. I'm about to give up." Jon muttered, looking up at AG then back to her. She had to stifle a grin at how stressed and annoyed he looked. "I did say you should teach me the easiest. This looks like you sneezed letters onto a page."

She looked down at the page, and while it all made sense to her, she could understand why it would be more complicated for Jon. Maybe this had been the wrong choice. "OK, so, maybe it's a little too complex for you. This was one of the easiest for me to learn, but it was my 8th language." She shrugged then grimaced when Jon pinched her arm, causing AG to laugh at them both.

"You two have issues." He shook his head and turned away from them, going back to making whatever drink he had brought with him. It didn't smell like coffee, so Erika was not going to ask what it was.

"I barely speak English sometimes." Jon said quieter a few seconds later, resting his head on the table in front of them, and while she had to grin, she also knew that Jon was not good at people pointing out things he didn't do well.

"That is not true. I don't think languages are for you." She rubbed his back in a friendly gesture, waiting for him to sit up again and decide whether he wanted to try again or give up. She was leaning toward him giving up, and she was fairly sure he was heading that way too.

"I think you're probably right."

"I think you're definitely right." AG said, and this time she didn't hesitate to throw a pen at him, luckily for him, he ducked out of the way.

"When did you become interested?" Jon asked, clearly feeling the strain a little more than he would have liked to admit. Maybe next time she should try something different, maybe a Germanic language, or Italian. Something with more similarities to English.

"About the time you botched 'croeso'" She looked up as AG said the term correctly, and she shook her head wondering how he had gotten it so well when Jon was still struggling.

"Hey, I thought I did alright at that one." He muttered, and Erika could tell that he was completely disheartened by what had gone on. Not that she could blame him. It was almost exactly how she felt every time she was asked to do her piloting reclassification.

"It's a g sound, Jon." AG said, and tapped against the tabletop on the correct word.

"How do you know."

"From listening to EH try to correct you. Just give up, Jon."

"Am I that bad?" He turned to her and asked with a frown and she hoped that she could at least cheer him up enough to try something else in the next few days. Something that was maybe not quite so difficult.

"You're not good, but you picked up most of the greetings. You did say you weren't one for languages." She had to remind him that he had said that himself, not even a week earlier. He had also been the one to ask her to teach him a language, the first day they met. Sure it had taken her almost six months to actually find the time to do it, but she was doing it, that was enough surely. "I'll try something easier next time."

"Might be a good idea." He held his hands up a second later after she glared at him. She didn't like the tone he'd used, and she didn't like that he'd clearly already given up. "Sorry, I don't like learning I'm not good at something."

"That much is obvious." She replied, and she wondered if it was obvious to him that he'd upset her a little. She was trying, and she didn't need for him to snap at her. She heard the door close and a quick look round told her that AG had left, and it was back to just being the two of them. After a second Jon looked at her, then placed his hand over hers and squeezed.

"Can we try again?" He asked gently, and it was obvious in his own way Jon was trying to make amends, and she had to give him that. He hadn't ever been the best at simple apologising, at least not as long as she'd known him. She nodded a little as she heard the door open again.

"How about next time we don't do it in the break-room on lunch." She grinned, and she sensed whoever had come in pause behind her. She grinned at Jon a little, knowing exactly how that sentence would have sounded to someone who hadn't heard the rest of the conversation.

"Alright, maybe not having these jackasses coming in all the time will help."

"Hey, what did I do?" Sam Gardner asked, just as Jon stood up. She looked up at Jon and kept his eye contact before she answered Sam's question.

"Nothing Sam, Jon's just in a bad mood." Erika grinned. Sam just nodded, and left Jon giving her a rather evil look. She just turned his grin at him, waiting for the next move. He waited a few more seconds then started moving toward the door, putting both his hands on her shoulders and leaning down before he left the area completely.

"This weekend, OK. I'll bring the beer." He whispered, then walked away before she had chance to answer. She just looked over her shoulder in the direction of the door and shook her head. Completely unsurprised at Jon's assumption she wouldn't be doing anything. She wasn't, but that didn't stop her being annoyed.

"Fine, fine. Not like I had any other plans." She said, not expecting an answer, and therefore jumping when Sam cleared his throat.

"You know he's not here, right?" Sam muttered, and rather than respond to him she just threw a spoon in his direction. Laughing a little when it bounced off his arm and into the sink. She now needed to figure out what language she'd try teaching him next. For some reason, Italian was sticking in her mind.


	5. Chapter 5

******This is set before Chapter 4 of TFM**

* * *

**December 18th, 2140**

First dates were always difficult, trying to keep the conversation going as best you could, testing the waters to see if you had anything in common, especially since mostly the dates were arranged from a few minutes of conversation, little more. So far it seemed like he and Mala Jenkins were fairly evenly matched. She was 24, intelligent, interested in older films and astronomy. Though he knew the conversation was drifting toward careers, however he tried to avoid it. He was interested in what she did, but he generally tried to avoid the conversation as long as he could. There was no more avoiding though. "So what do you do?"

"I'm a waitress, I'm back at school though, trying to get my law degree."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, not very interesting." She shook her head with a self deprecating smile. He disagreed with her there. He'd never had the brains to attempt a law degree, though he had considered it for a while before Starfleet was chartered. Along with his idea of possible signing up with a freighter crew.

"I don't know, law is hard to get into." He remembered Ryan's last girlfriend, working as a paralegal just to make ends meet.

"I'm only a second year. How about you?" She asked, and he thought for a second how best to answer it, there were always two ways, and he was never a hundred percent sure which was best.

"I'm with Starfleet." He said, not sure if she want to know more about it. He found it was always best to let others lead the conversation about his job, so he didn't bore them.

"Now that is an interesting job."

"Everyone thinks that. It's hard work." He grinned, finishing off his plate. He was glad they'd agreed on this place. It was one of his favourite restaurants, and it was a little hidden gem in the city. Mala studied him a minute as she sat back, her own plate mostly empty.

"Which project are you on?"

"I'm on the Warp 5 project. The NX Programme."

"Oh, the deep space thing?" She asked, clearly not really certain what was happening in Starfleet. Probably not surprising, since she would only know what the media report.

"Yeah that's the one. The one the press loves. Though they don't often talk to the pilots." He was always glad of that, he hated press calls, and in the almost 9 months since the Warp 5 Project began he had maybe spoken to the press once. He looked back up to Mala to see her looking at him with a questioning look.

"You're a pilot?"

"Yeah. I probably should have said that." He shook his head, that was a bit of a large oversight, but he wasn't surprised, he had too much to say.

"There probably isn't a month that goes by where the NX Programme isn't in the news." Mala grinned, leaning on her hand, and it was obvious she was actually genuinely interested in what the NX Programme was and did. When he thought about it, almost everyone was. Everyone wanted to get off the planet and explore.

"Well, the programme isn't just the Warp 5 Project. It's also the UT project, and quite a few others. Not to mention they only talk about the piloting tests, I guess we're the sexy team." He laughed at his own joke. He knew that they were the team that the general public were more interested in, the glory was always going to go to the pilots.

"Jon?" Came a familiar voice, a very familiar voice. He looked up to see Erika stood by their table. Clearly still looking around for someone.

"Erika, hi. Mala this is Erika." He stood up and pulled her into a light hug. Why he decided to do that was lost on him, but it was too late to stop it. "What are doing here?"

"My cousin is in town, I said I'd meet her here." Erika smiled as he let her go. Mala was just looking up at him with a question in her eyes. He would have to explain to her at a later date.

"Oh, say hi for me." He said, looking around them for who Erika could be meeting. A second later she waved in the direction he wasn't looking, and it was obvious she'd seen who she was looking for.

"I will, hi Mala, I'll see you Monday?" She asked, the undercurrent of her words clear, he didn't want address them right now, and she was nice enough to Mala, shooting her a quick smiled.

"Yeah, we have that design to go over, and I want to log some simulator hours." He said, slipping into work talk before he'd even realised it, he had meant to bring up logging some simulator hours the day before, but forgotten. Running into her had a mixed blessing.

"I'll put it on the schedule when I get in. See you later." Erika squeezed his arm before turning around to a woman who looked very much like her.

"She's nice." Mala commented as he slid back onto his seat.

"Yeah, she's the best. Erika's the comm officer in the fleet. She keeps us all in order. It's a hard job, don't know how she copes." He grinned and looked over to her table, realising that she was in his eye line pretty much wherever he looked. He tried to shake his head of the kiss they'd shared, the most electric kiss of his life. Despite his drunken state at the time, and hers. He shook himself, trying to get back on topic.

"I'm sure. How many are there on the project?"

"Just the Warp 5? Me, three other pilots, Erika and our CO, Captain, wait." He stopped himself, remembering that Forrest was no longer a Captain. "Commodore Forrest. He got a promotion not long ago." He laughed at his own mistake, then noticed she wasn't laughing and trailed off.

"Oh, quite a small unit then?" She asked, and he shook his head, clearly doing a terrible job of explaining the programme to someone outside of Starfleet.

"Only in the sense of our team being small. There are more than 200 people working on the NX Programme, comms, engineers, pilots, technicians, scientists." He explained with a smile. People seemed to think the NX Programme was only what he did, but it wasn't. There was so much more to it than just the Warp 5 Project.

"Sounds detailed." She huffed as he found his eyes straying to Erika's table again. He was dragged back to their little booth a minute later when Mala reached for his hand. "How about we go get a nightcap somewhere?" She asked, clearly wanting to get out of the restaurant now.

"Sure." He smiled and motioned for the waiter to pay. He had to admit, seeing Erika had thrown him off his game a little. Tonight he would be going home alone, he was sure of that. He hoped he'd see Mala again, but he was fairly sure that might be asking a little too much. He followed her out, stopping at Erika's table briefly to say goodbye. He almost felt Mala's eyes boring into the back of his skull as he laughed at a joke Erika told. It was true, it was hard to date on the project, and he realised that a large part of that, for him, probably came from his friendship with her. If Mala saw past that, he was a lucky man.


	6. Chapter 6

******This is set just before Chapter 4 of TFM**

* * *

**December 29th, 2140**

He climbed out of the simulator to Erika's foot tapping on the floor. He knew he was pushing it, and it was only a few minutes from the time the Warp 5 base was expected to be closed and locked, but he'd wanted to finish the last sim. He'd make it up to her, somehow. He shrugged a little and she nodded, the unspoken conversation telling far more than anything else could. "So, how did I do?" He asked, coming to a stop beside her.

"Your hit to miss on the obstacles is still higher than anyone else on the team. I'll submit the report to Forrest in the morning, but he'll want Sam and Rob's score's tomorrow. You're lucky I didn't have anything to do tonight. You need to book your practice hours earlier." It was a lectured he'd heard a hundred thousand times before, and it wasn't getting old. He kept listening to her, knowing that she had enough on her plate as it was without him forgetting to log his hours and book his next set.

"I know you're giving me special treatment, again." He shook his head, she was far too easy on him. "How about I make a standing booking, every Thursday, then I take you out to dinner as a reward." He wondered if she'd take that, plus it would be a weekly dinner where they could talk about anything else. His relationship status notwithstanding, because it was just as friends.

"Having dinner with you is a reward?" She smirked, and he replied with a grin and a nod. After a second of glaring at him she started ushering him toward the door before replying. "OK. I think I can do that." He hoped she remembered to mark that down in the morning. Sim hours were nearly always 3 until six, with four pilots they fought almost every week for places. If he had a standing arrangement he had an advantage.

"Good. You know. I've always wondered why you can lock up. I always thought that was security's job?"

"They patrol the hangar and such, as soon as I tell them we're done for the day, but that main door is mine. It's why I'm nearly always the first in and the last out. Though if I'm not here by 6 security will open it, since that's when Aaron normally comes in." He narrowed his eyes at that, considering she normally didn't leave til well after 6, and sometimes as late as 9, like tonight, he wasn't exactly happy to learn she was often in before 6 in a morning. Did she ever sleep?

"Aaron Jordan, Forrest's aide?"

"Yeah, he's a pain in my ass, same as everyone else." She laughed and he had to agree with that Aaron Jordan was by far the most annoying person he'd ever met, and was glad to know he wasn't the only one annoyed by the aide.

"But still, you never answered why you do it?" He was going to keep on at her until she told him, even as he heard her set the entry alarm. She pushed him out of the doors in the few seconds before it closed and locked them in. He just kept looking at her until she shrugged and pushed him away a little further.

"Because in literal and figurative ways, I'm the gatekeeper to the Warp 5 team. I'm your secretary, your administrator, your personal assistants. That's basically what an Earth-bound comm officer is if they aren't teaching. But I do my duty to Starfleet, even if that duty sometimes makes me feel like I should be blonde with giant boobs." She smiled a little and shrugged, pulling the keys out of one of her pockets.

That was something he couldn't imagine, and he looked Erika over again as she turned away from the now locked door. There was certainly nothing wrong with her right now, that much he could say with absolute certainty. He knew that most of the things he wanted to say would have crossed a very clear line, so instead he just settled for what he thought in the politest term possible. "I think I prefer you just the way you are. You're beautiful."

"Thanks." She blushed a little and held a hand out for him to start walking, but he waited for her instead. Letting her set the pace.

"I didn't realise there was so much pressure put on you." He shook his head, placing his hand on the small of her back as he often did when it was just the two of them, it was the easiest way to keep at her pace.

"Of course there is, Jon. If anyone wants to speak to you, they come through me. The only person whose messages don't come through me are the Commodore's, and that's only since Aaron was hired. If anyone wants to visit the project, it goes through me. All your mail goes through me." She continued, and he wondered how it would be best to break up the tirade. It probably would be best to let her get it out of her system, but he thought maybe she was being a little harsh on what her position in their team was. "But I'm quite happy to do all that in my own office and not make it any harder for you four. You're the heroes. You're Harry Potter and his friends while I'm Luna Thingygood."

"I think you got that reference wrong." He pointed out. Wondering where she had picked that particular gem up from. He made a mental note to actually get her to watch the Harry Potter movies. He wouldn't even care which version.

"I don't really care." She laughed, and he couldn't help but smile back. It had been a while since he'd actually heard her laugh. They all been so busy. Six months into the project and they had all been working hard. The fact it was Christmas was not at all slowing down the work.

"I know. Want me to walk you home?" He asked, not sure if he wanted to walk her for her safety or so that he didn't have to leave her already. He kept trying to remind himself that he was seeing someone. While he and Mala certainly weren't exclusive, she'd had enough questions about his relationship with Erika already.

"I'm only 10 minutes away in the opposite direction to your place." She shook her head and nodded in the direction of her apartment. "I do this every night Jon, I'll be fine. See you in the morning." She smiled, rubbing his arm again in the strange gesture she used every time they were alone.

"You bet on it." He grinned and turned away from her, looking over his shoulder a second later. It had been a while since they'd been alone together, and he'd enjoyed it. Right now he knew it was time to get home, but he kept slowing his pace so that he could see Erika as long as possible. He turned back again, and caught her looking over her shoulder as well, just on the corner to one of the streets surrounding them. She waved a little before turning, and he felt like more than a bit of an idiot. Erika had made it clear there was no chance for them, so why did he still find himself drawn to her in the strangest way.


	7. Chapter 7

******This is set between chapters 6 and 7 of TFM**

* * *

**October 2141**

She turned round to face him again and he had to admit it didn't look like she was really ready for this, and he couldn't blame her. It wasn't a pleasant visit, but he also knew she needed to see her father, despite her protestations. After another few minutes she looked at him worried again and frowned. "Are you sure you want to be here?" she asked, and all he could do was answer honestly.

"Wouldn't want to be anywhere else?" He squeezed her shoulder with a smile. It didn't seem to matter what he said, she still worried that she was putting him out. The simple fact was, he wouldn't be anywhere else. She had pushed him earlier in the day to face something he hadn't wanted to do but would be for the best, now he needed to return that favour.

"I warn you, my father is a little… eccentric." She gave him a funny look and mimed 'crazy' in his direction. He snorted, then shook his head.

"Don't worry, Erika. I'm here for you, just see your father, and decide what you're going to do after the weekend." At her confused look he continued, wanting her to know that the NX Programme could survive without her for a few days. She had said she was going to go back with him on Sunday, but he was ready for her to stay if she needed. "If you're coming back with me on Sunday or if you're going to stay here for a few more days."

"I have to go back, we've got tests this week." It seemed she was as stubborn now they had arrived in New Mexico as she had been in San Francisco, despite the train journey here. He looked down at her again seriously.

"We can cover you for one week, E. I promise."

"Jon, just leave me to it. OK." She held her hand up and looked at one of the nurses who walked past them. He was certain that two Starfleet servicemen weren't a familiar sight here, so he gently pushed her shoulder, picking their bags up again.

"OK. Are you ready?" He asked, noticing the barely restrained look of horror on her face.

"No." She muttered a second later, and he reached down to squeeze her hand gently. Clearly that tiny show of support gave her the strength to continue into the hospital room they were hovering in the doorway of. Before he could let go Erika pulled him into the room behind her, he dropped their bags in the far corner, stepping back there with them, trying to stay back from Erika's homecoming.

He looked up in time to see her father's face light up as she slid into the chair next to his bed. Jon had to admit, Mr Hernandez didn't look well, and while he was certain that Erika could cope, it was clear that whoever had contacted her hadn't been exaggerating his condition. Almost the minute his eyes landed on Erika, he lit up. "Hey, there is my little girl."

"Hi papi." Erika smiled, and Jon took what he was being given. A very rare opportunity to see Erika when she wasn't the one in control. When she wasn't able to make sure everything came out the way she wanted.

"What are you doing here, I thought you had your big job that kept you busy?" Her father wheezed, but the pride in his voice was obvious. Jon couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of him, catching Erika's eye as she looked up.

"My friend Jon brought me down when he heard you were sick." She smiled and nodded in Jon's direction, bringing him into focus for the first time. Her father was still studying him when Erika continued talking. "I have to go back Sunday though. We have tests this week that they need me for."

"Boyfriend?"

"No, Papi. Just a friend." Erika smiled over at him, shrugging a little then mouthing an apology. That didn't make him feel especially confident about what was about to come his way from her father. Maybe he should start with an apology right up. Or he could just wait, and not panic.

A few seconds later, the tired face did turn to him, looking him over once before looking back to his daughter for a second, then back to Jon. It was a little like being back at command and on parade for some unknown reason. "You the friend?"

"Yes sir." He answered, and stepped forward out of the corner, standing still a little ways from the bed, but making it easier for her father to see him, so he wouldn't have to sit forward as far.

"Dad, this is Jon, Jon this is my father, Albert." Erika smiled and made the first official introduction. Albert held his hand out, and even with whatever illness he was run down with he gave a firm shake.

"You're a good looking man, you look after her, you hear?" Albert said, looking straight at him, and all Jon had time to do was nod before Erika took over again, clearly not so happy that her father thought she needed looking after.

"Leave him be papi. Where's mama?"

Albert laughed just a little, mostly a humourless laugh, and then shook his head, leaning back against his pillows. "She went to get your brother and Maria. They were in Mauritius."

"Hope they had a good time." Erika muttered, more than a little sarcastically,

"So, tell me about this job, I'm sure your friend can fill in the blanks. What do you actually do?"

"I'm a comm officer, dad. Same as I was when I was on the ship."

"Then why did they bring you back."

"Because she's the best, Mr Hernandez." Jon said, noticing that that question had stumped Erika, and he knew the truth. That was why she was wanted on the project. Because she was a great linguist and one of the best at organising in all of Starfleet, and over the last year she had proven time and again that she was the best.

"Who are you, anyway?" Albert asked, looking him over again, the yellow of his piping standing out against the all blue of Erika's science and communications uniform.

"Jonathan Archer, sir. One of the pilots who works with Erika." He answered, looking at Erika a second later with a smile as she mouthed a quick thank you, letting him take over the conversation for the moment. He took another step closer to stand beside her, resting a hand on the back of her chair.

"She's the best?"

"In the entire fleet, and she keeps us all in line and on time." Jon grinned down at her, and shook his head when she motioned that she was going to poke him. It was all the truth, and it was a good thing that her father knew it, especially in the condition he was in right now.

Albert leant back a few minutes before sitting up again and looking at Erika once again. "Are you still trying to get to space though Rike?"

"I'll be back there soon papi. This is important too." She smiled and reached forward to take her father's hand. Jon once again melted into the background, giving Erika the time she needed with her father. Erika motioned to him a second later but clearly still talking, trying to convince her father that she was doing the right thing. "Jon's a test pilot for the NX programme. They are the ones trying to break into high warp, so we can go exploring." Albert started laughing and a minute later another person came in the room, and there was no doubt in Jon's mind who it was. Erika looked just like her mother, only younger. It made him smile when he realised that. He was staying standing in the background when she turned to her husband and daughter.

"Albert, what are you doing? Hello Rike, have you been to the house?"

"No, we came straight here." She shook her head and stood up, giving her mother the seat beside the bed and standing in front of Jon, looking up at him and gently shaking her head.

"Take your friend and get some rest. You can come visit again tomorrow."

"OK. I'll see you tomorrow papi." She waved as she turned out the door and led them both off the ward and toward the main entrance. He stopped a second at the door and waited for her to catch up after booking for a shuttle to come and collect them. After a second she turned to him and wrapped her arms around him. He dropped their bags and returned the hug, knowing she probably needed it more than he could even imagine right now. "Thanks, Jon." She muttered a second later.

"Any time. Your mom could be right though. It's late and you could probably do with some sleep, we both could." He looked down at her for a second before letting go and picking up his duffel from the floor. He let her lead the way to the shuttle, hoping that he had done the right thing. The one thing he knew was that he was certain of was that she would thank him for bringing her, whichever way it went.


	8. Chapter 8

**This is set just after Chapter 9 of TFM**

* * *

**November 21st, 2142**

It hadn't mattered even a little bit to Jon that, technically, he'd already had plans for Friday, long before he'd told Erika they were going out. Now he just had to break it to Rebecca, and that wasn't going to be pretty. For some reason, no doubt a good and valid reason, Rebecca and Erika hadn't really clicked. It didn't surprise him, because he couldn't think of one of his girlfriends who had been comfortable with him having a female best friend. Especially one he was as comfortable with as Erika. Ultimately though, if he was ever made to choose between a girlfriend and Erika, Erika was always going to come out on top.

The decision to speak to her while she was at work was probably a good one, at least she wouldn't be able to hit him, a definite upside. She looked like she was busy, but when she saw him through the window it was clear she decided to take her break to speak with him.

"Jon, what are you doing here?" She asked, a smile spreading on her face as she joined him walking a short way down the street.

"I just needed to speak to you." He stopped for a second, and tried not to look guilty. "About Friday." He'd never seen a facial expression change quite so quickly before. He knew she'd been looking forward to getting to spend some quality time with him. Alone time. But he maintained that, for him, quality time with Erika was equally as important. "I'm going to have to cancel." He muttered, and her face told him her opinions.

"Is this about work?" She asked, and it was obvious she figured out it was something to do with Erika. He thought for a moment about what he would say before he answered, not wanting to annoy Rebecca any further than was necessary. Because despite the popular opinion of his friends, he did actually like Rebecca, and enjoyed spending time with her. He really didn't want the two women in his life to be in a stand-off over him. Mostly because he knew that despite what she, and he, would want. Erika would be the one to step back, because she never wanted to be in the way of his happiness.

"Erika has been transferred to another team so we're-"

"Wait." She cut him off after a second and started walking in the opposite direction, a little bit along the alley by the side of the restaurant that she worked in. She turned after a minute and looked at him. "You're cancelling our plans because she got a transfer. Why?"

"Because she's my best friend, Bec!" He almost shouted at her, wondering why he had even needed to say that. Then he realised, she still thought that Erika wanted him, which he knew wasn't the truth. "Because despite what you think, she isn't trying to steal me away from you." He said that and stepped closer to her again. Hoping that he could convince her of why he was doing this. He wasn't going to change his mind just because Rebecca was being a child. "Because she's being transferred to another team against her will, and she's feeling pretty shitty about it."

"But why Friday? Why when we already had plans?"

"Because she needs a friend right now. Imagine if it was one of your friends, Bec, someone who you cared about." He said again, and all that happened was that she glared at him, before turning and walking past him back toward the door.

"Fine. You win, Jon. Enjoy yourself." She stormed to the door, and stopped a second before opening it. Maybe she was controlling herself before she went back in to working.

"Becs!" He shouted once, making a move toward her again, then as she pulled the door he shouted again "Rebecca!"

She didn't look back for a second, and then she was gone and he really didn't have the energy to chase her. They'd talk on Thursday, or Saturday, or whenever they were next together. Maybe then he'd be able to state his case when they were both less emotional and close to the issue. But he also felt like he needed to speak to someone about the situation, maybe get a little backup that Rebecca was in the wrong. He knew that AG didn't live too far away and he hoped that his friend wouldn't mind him dropping by.

It didn't take him long to arrive outside of AG's building, hitting the buzzer as he did so. "Hello?" Came the question through the speaker, and Jon hit the button.

"Hey, it's Jon. Mind if I stop by?"

"Sure, come on up." He dived through the door and almost jogged up the stairs, he was almost there when the door opened and and his fellow pilot looked him up and down briefly before speaking again, "OK, you've had a fight with one of your women. Which one?"

"I only have one girlfriend, AG."

"And your work wife." AG muttered in response, maybe Jon had come to the wrong place for impartiality after all. AG wasn't much of a fan of Rebecca, and he thought that Erika was a good match for Jon. After a minute AG stepped back and let him into the apartment and spoke, "so you had a fight with Rebecca, what about?"

"Spending Friday night with Erika." He said honestly, certain that AG wouldn't cause a scene about it, and would probably praise him for it.

"Rebecca saw that as a problem?" AG asked, a slight sneer on his face. It was obvious that Rebecca had dropped a few more points in AG's opinion.

"Only because we already had plans, but Erika really needs a friend right now. She normally spends Friday night with Marta, but Marta's in Delhi for a conference." He frowned, and then continued his point, a reason why he was glad that he could possibly spend some time with Erika. "I've not seen much of Erika recently, we've been so busy, and eventually I'd like to see the two of them begin to get along." Maybe he was being more than a little optimistic there, Erika and Rebecca were unlikely to ever see eye to eye. It seemed like AG wasn't going to let him live with that little fantasy either.

"That is never going to happen and you know it, Jon. You also know that none of it would be Erika's fault. She tries, lord knows she tries, with all of your girlfriends. But your girlfriends aren't stupid, they can see how you feel about her." AG smiled a little, and Jon knew that he wasn't saying that to be horrible or rude, he was just being as truthful as he could be. After a second of silence he began speaking again. "Who the hell is Marta anyway?"

"One of Erika's many cousins, and no, she isn't single." Jon smiled and shook his head, already knowing what AG was going to ask as soon as he said it. After a second he started thinking about what Erika would tell him in this situation, probably that he was being ridiculous, and he needed to spend his Friday night with Rebecca. "I just wouldn't feel right, leaving Erika alone right now. Not this weekend."

"She's not taking the transfer well then?" AG asked, Jon knew that AG and Erika were relatively close, but she'd locked herself away in her office this week, he'd only managed to speak to her when he had taken her to lunch. She was trying to get all of her paperwork finished before her official transfer on Monday, and whenever they'd spoken it had been obvious how unhappy she was about the whole situation. She hadn't asked for a transfer and didn't want one.

"That might actually be an understatement. We're lucky that she has a better control on her temper than the pilots, or things would have been thrown at Forrest."

"It's that bad?" AG asked, and Jon nodded. For a moment they were both thinking the same thing, and imagining the calm and collected comm officer losing her temper.

"She's unhappy." He stated the obvious again, smiling at AG's laughter. "She's also angry that she wasn't consulted about the move. I think any of us would be."

"Yeah." AG agreed, and a second later he clapped Jon on the shoulder. "You've done the right thing Jon. If that's what you were here looking for. Erika needs a friend right now, and you are the one she's most likely to open up too." They both stood up, Jon knowing that the hour was getting late, and he really should be leaving. AG stopped him on the doorway and looked at him seriously. "Look, Jon. I know you like Rebecca, but is it worth being with someone who is jealous of your best friend?"

"She'll come around, in time. I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled as AG clapped his shoulder again. He hoped he was right there, that eventually Rebecca would come around to liking, or at least tolerating Erika. Because eventually he would have to pick. That much he was certain of, but he was sure she would. When she realised that Erika wasn't trying to steal him away or break them up. It would just take time, he hoped.


	9. Chapter 9

**This is set between chapters 9 and 10 of TFM**

* * *

**February 2143**

It wasn't the typical team night out, because as an experiment they had each brought someone along. Both she and AG had brought along a friend, while Sam and Rob had brought their girlfriends. She was waiting on Jon, and hoping beyond hope that he had brought Ryan instead of Rebecca. She wasn't exactly fond of Jonathan's girlfriend, and she was certain that the feeling was entirely mutual. It seemed Marta caught on to at least part of her issue.

"Worrying about who Jon is bringing?" She asked, quietly enough that none of the others could hear her. Erika shook her head and tried to look as innocent as she could. After a few more seconds of Marta's staring she shook her head.

"More curious than worried." She lied, completely certain that Marta would see straight through her. Before she had chance to continue Jonathan walked through the door, and an almost collective groan rose from the officers on the Warp 5 team at his companion. At least she wasn't the only one who was unhappy about the appearance of Rebecca.

"Hey everyone, you remember Rebecca?" He introduced before taking the seat beside Erika. The mutters all but ignoring Rebcca's entrance made it hard to ignore that the entire team seemed to dislike Jon's girlfriend. As Jon tried to encourage her to move up a little she looked up and caught the eye of AG. AG was in the unenviable position of being the only person in the booth besides Marta who knew exactly how tense things were between her and Rebecca. He had overheard the discussion she and Rebecca had had a few months earlier, where she had had to defend herself, and her friendship with Jonathan. He shook his head gently, trying to diffuse the worry she already felt. She had desperately tried to avoid Rebecca in the last few months rather than face another argument. She was still sharing a wordless conversation with AG when Jon leaned closer to her and spoke. "How are things this week on the UT project?"

She tried to keep her face neutral as AG tried to make her laugh, then she turned to Jon, opening a little more space between them. "It's not too bad. We've built the library for whatever ship makes it to the finish line. The rest is mostly translations. How are things going for you? She asked neutrally, keeping the conversation as casual and professional as she could. It was as if she could feel Rebecca's eyes boring into the side of her face.

"It's OK. I miss you." He muttered a little quieter, clearly trying to make sure Rebecca couldn't hear what he was saying to her.

"You saw me last Friday night, Jon." She whispered, shaking her head.

"I know but." He shook his head then clearly decided they should stay to being professional, at least while Rebecca was there. "Jack is not ready to be on our team full time."

"I said that when they transferred me. I do miss you too." She smiled back then turned to Marta, glad to see that both she and her cousin had finished their drinks, giving her the perfect excuse to get out of the supremely awkwardly situation. "Hey, need a drink?"

"Yeah, I'll come with." Marta nodded, clearly understanding the undercurrent of her words. Erika lightly elbow Jonathan, unsurprised when he held her hips to help her out. Once Marta was beside her she lead the way to the side bar, hoping that for a minute she'd be out of the range of Rebecca's death glare. Marta smiled then leaned in to closer. "That looked awkward. If looks could kill you'd be six feet under."

"I know, and Jon seems completely oblivious. The rest of the team always used to tease me about my supposed lack of observational skills."

"She hates you." Marta laughed, not exactly helping Erika feel any better about the situation. She turned to pick up her drink when she became aware of someone on her other side. It only took her a second to figure out who was there.

"Can I help you?" She tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Judging by the snort from behind her, she hadn't been successful.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rebecca demanded. This time Erika couldn't help but look over her shoulder at Marta and rolled her eyes, before turning back to Rebecca.

"Buying a drink." She answered, motioning to the glass still on the bar, she saw Marta lean round the side of the bar and hopefully motion to someone on their table.

"You know what I mean, stay away from my boyfriend." There was a hint of a threat underneath Rebecca's word, one Erika chose to ignore.

"For one, you don't control what Jon nor I do. For another Jon and I have been friends for a long time. For a third, I do what I like, and you don't have a say in it. Got it?" She said, stepping up to the taller woman until she backed away just a step. Marta reached forward and rubbed Erika's shoulders, and a quick look over her shoulder told her that AG had joined them.

"You know what Erika, you can keep trying to break us up, but surely you've seen by now. He doesn't want you." Rebecca spoke as if she knew exactly what was going on in Erika's mind, something that she took more than a little offence too, but she wasn't sure if she had the energy to really take too much issue to it. Suddenly behind her she heard the sound of both AG and Marta laughing, reminding her that their friends all knew the reality.

"Rebecca, I've told you before, and I'll say it again." She started, and wondered if she sounded as weary of this as she felt. "I'm not interested in either having a relationship with Jonathan or trying to break yours up. You're the one who has convinced yourself of a lie. Jon and I are friends, nothing more. She turned back to the bar and picked her drink up. She was about to turn back to the table when the drink was knocked out of her hand and all over her. Rather than react the way she once would have she just stepped up to Rebecca and hissed in as sinister a voice as she could muster. "Rebecca. I'm a Starfleet Commander trained in advanced self defence. Think it through." She then continued back to the table, without giving Rebecca a chance to reply, and sliding back into her seat. Jon looked her over without saying anything, but as soon as Sam and Rob had been alerted to the fact she was now drenched, she knew the questions would come. Sure enough, almost the very second they realised, Sam opened his mouth.

"What happened to you?"

She was about to answer when AG returned to the table and beat her too it. "Might want to ask Jon's girlfriend." He said and as the entire table shook their head to face Erika.

"What happened?" He asked, looking more than a little worried, whether that was for her or for Rebecca, she wasn't certain.

"Apparently, I'm trying to steal you away." She grinned, hoping he thought it was as amusing as she did. Before Jon could ask another follow up question Marta took over, speaking to the table at large.

"She knocked Rike's glass clean out of her hand and all over her. You need to teach your girlfriend about adult friendships, Jon." Marta looked a little smug, but when Alicia and Jess, Sam and Rob's girlfriends, both made affirmative noises she realised that maybe her cousin had a right. After a few seconds of thinking she zoned back into the conversation as it was all but unanimously decided that Rebecca wasn't going to be welcome at any future team events.

A short while later she realised how sticky and uncomfortable she was getting sitting in a wet uniform. Marta agreed that maybe it was time for the two of them to call it a night. They had barely gotten out of the door before a voice called her back.

"Erika, hey. Wait up." She turned round and saw Jonathan running to catch up with them. She sighed a little and turned back to Marta.

"Go on ahead. I'll catch up." She smiled, then slowed down and waited for Jon to catch up with her. "What is it you want Jonathan? I would have thought Rebecca wouldn't have let you out of her sight."

"I know Rebecca was out of line tonight, and I'm sorry. She's just insecure when it comes to you because we're so close and I love you so much. You're my best friend and that puts her on edge." He sighed and looked down, and Erika couldn't help but feel bad for Jonathan. She knew that he liked Rebecca, and it couldn't be easy for him to know that his friends didn't like her. She reached out and rubbed his arm, and smiled when he looked up at her again. "I told her she was out of order and that she should apologise to you, but-"

"She won't." She took a deep breath and looked up at him, knowing what she needed to say, but dreading it all the same. "Jonathan, I should take a step back. It's obvious Rebecca doesn't like me. You should focus on her." She tried to smile, tried to show him it wouldn't hurt to be without him as her best friend, but his happiness should come first.

"Erika, I don't care about that. Rebecca will need to get used to the fact that you are in my life, because I refuse to cut you out, just because she has an issue. I've known you longer." He put both his hands on her shoulders and pulled her against his chest, hugging her tightly, and it was as if she could sense in his embrace the words '_you're not getting rid of me that easily_'.

"In that case, are we still on for next Friday night, my place, right?" She stepped back a fraction, just enough to look at him and grin.

"Absolutely." He smiled, then looked at her seriously for a second again. "She's normally lovely, Erika. Honestly. She makes me laugh."

She nodded wishing she could make this easier for him. "Of course, Jonathan, I'm never going to make you choose between me and her, that's not my game. I am happy if you are happy. OK. That's my job as best friend." She smiled again and wrapped her arms around him again, giving him a gently squeeze. "Look, Jon. I'd stay here, but I'm freezing and Marta is probably back at my building by now. Can we speak on Monday?"

"Of course. Say goodnight to Marta for me." He squeezed her again then let go. She grinned and jogged away, turning back as she she did and seeing Jonathan still watching her. She waved before she turned the corner, and thought about him. It sucked to be the best friend in this case, because it was so painful to know that Jonathan was torn between Rebecca and his friends. She refused to make it harder, she was not going to make him choose, even when Rebecca treated her like shit. She had more faith in Jonathan to do the right thing to do.


	10. Chapter 10

**This is set between chapters 14 and 15 of TFM**

* * *

**October 2144**

It still felt strange to walk into this hangar and know he wasn't going to be able to stay there. The design team was having a slow day, and he had missed his friends on the warp 5 team. He stood back and watched the four remaining members of the warp 5 team throwing a ball back and forth while talking about the plan for the next mission. He planned to announce his presence just as Sam looked up and spotted him lurking in the shadows.

"Well look who is mixing with the commoners." Sam grinned, bringing Jon's presence to the attention of the others. He started in their direction, smiling as Erika jogged over first and wrapped her arms around him. He held her tightly for minute before she stepped back and the others moved forward to greet him.

"I couldn't let you guys think I'd forgotten you." He laughed and wrapped an arm around Erika's back as they all walked back in the direction of the engineering bay where they'd been before. "So, what's been going on over here?" He asked, expecting from anyone. Erika stopped beside him and leant against the barrier, he smiled at her, and wondered what had brought this on from her. He made a mental note to ask her when they were alone again. After a few seconds of looking awkwardly between each other, AG looked to him and answered.

"We're doing OK. Trying to organise the next set of tests. It's harder than I expected. I never realised how many hours you and EH put in." Erika grinned a little mischievously, and Jon guessed that she probably wasn't letting AG get away with leaving her with all the paperwork. She would have sat with him and helped keep everything in order, but he doubted that she'd sit that long with AG. He looked at her another second then back to everyone else.

"Yeah, we'd put a lot of time in after hours." He squeezed her lightly, causing her to squeak almost inaudibly. She stepped away from him a little after that, sending him an affronted look. "Have I missed any good gossip?" He asked, almost certain that in the last month something must have happened. Despite seeing her every Friday, Erika had kept things quiet on the gossip front.

"Well. Rob finally found someone willing enough to actually marry him." Sam teased, earning the tennis ball Rob had still been holding being thrown at his head. Jon couldn't help but burst out laughing with everyone else, and was hit again by why he missed this team so much. The camaraderie was unlike any other team he'd ever worked on. Once the chuckles had subsided he looked to Rob and grinned.

"When's the wedding?"

"This time next year. Jess needs to plan a lot, apparently." Rob smiled, but the rest of the team glared at him.

"We ask every day for a week and get nothing. Him you tell right away?" AG demanded, an unhappy but amused look on his face. Jon thought that that might be time for him to dip out, before he caused another incident. He nodded to everyone individually then grinned.

"I should probably get back, are we all still on for Friday?"

"Sure, you traitor." Sam smiled, before turning back to the battling pilots. He took a few steps before he realised that Erika had fallen into step beside him. He studied her a moment, wondering what she was doing. He waited until they'd gotten to the door before stopping.

"Rike, where are you going? Shouldn't you be breaking those three up?"

"I'm not their mother, and I really need a break. Walk with me?" She asked, and suddenly it was obvious to him that things weren't necessarily all rosy with his previous team, or at least they weren't with her. He held his hand out in front of him, motioning for her to lead to wherever she was planning on going. She walked a little ways into the gardens outside the hangar before sliding onto a bench and leaning back, just looking into the sky and letting out a frustrated growl. He slipped next to her, and just waited for her to speak. He knew that he wouldn't be able to pull it out of her. After another growl she took a breath and looked to him. "I seriously couldn't cope with another minute alone with those three without doing something unprofessional." That was one of the sentences that worried him more than any other. In all the time he had known her. She had often been annoyed at them, but annoyed to the point where she needed a break was unlike her. She sometimes had the patience of saint with the pilots, and he had no idea why.

"What's going on Rike?" He asked, shifting a little closer to her and putting an arm around her shoulders, trying to show her as much support as he could.

"I'm not sure how to explain it." She started, then sighed. Leaning against him just a little, her hand on his thigh as he let her gather her thoughts, it was obvious that there was something serious bothering her, and that was worrying him. He was about to prompt her a little when she took another breath. "Maybe it's because I got used to having you in the flight centre with me, or if the other three are purposefully trying to piss me off."

"I can't see them doing it on purpose Rike." He had to admit though, they were idiots, and most of the time they didn't think about how what they said would affect someone else, especially Erika.

"It's different now, Jon. Not necessarily in a bad way, but the balance has changed. Things the lead pilot should be doing are ending up on my desk, and then they argue about which of them is in the lead. It's frustrating, and doubling my workload." She sighed, and he suddenly understood her issues. She had every right to be annoyed at them, and he wondered if maybe he should have a word with them, or with Forrest. Erika already had the heaviest workload of them all, she really didn't need extra.

"Do you want me to tell them to cut the shit?"

"No, no." She shook her head and squeezed his thigh, turning a little on the bench so she faced him a little more. "I'm sure it'll settle soon. Forrest would be able to tell me who the lead pilot is now, right?" The desperation barely disguised in her voice hurt more than a little to hear. He nodded, certain that Forrest would be able to help her. She smiled at him then looked back toward the hangar. He could tell from her body language she was dreading going back in.

"You know where the design hangar is. My office is always open when you need to escape." He smiled, and she suddenly wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He rested his chin on the top of her head, then placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Thanks for being such a good friend, Jon. I really needed this pep talk." He couldn't help but smile that she seemed a little happier now that when he'd agreed to join her. Maybe she had just needed to vent, he had had days like that and she was always there for him. He made the decision to make himself more available to her. After another lingering hug, one he didn't really want to end, she stood up and stroked his cheek in the fond gesture she used. "I should get back to my pile of work. So should you."

"Definitely." He nodded, not making a move to stand, just watching her as she walked away. Just before she was out of earshot he stood up, making a decision then and there. "Hey, Erika." She turned back and covered her eyes from the sun, looking in his direction. "How about a movie tonight. I'll help you with the paperwork."

"That'd be great." She shouted, and he could see the smile on her face even at this distance. "Meet you at your place when I'm done." She waved and he grinned. If all he could do to help his best friend was help her fill in paperwork and be there with pizza and a movie, then that was what he'd do. He knew sometimes he was a bit of deadbeat friend, putting everything else first, but he wanted to try and do more, especially for her. Right now he regretted moving off the team, he missed them all, and he missed knowing he made a difference.


	11. Chapter 11

**This is set between chapters 15 and 16 of TFM**

* * *

**March 2145**

She wasn't exactly the happiest she'd been in the command centre, and it was clear that her companion wasn't happy either. He hadn't ever been happy in the command centre because he felt that he didn't quite have a handle on things. Judging by the current test he was absolutely correct. Sam was doing whatever he could to make things easier, but this sim test had gone entirely wrong. They were on the edge of finishing when Commodore Forrest burst from the observation deck and stormed into the command centre, clearly unimpressed with what he'd seen.

"OK. Conference room. Now." He ordered, she watched as AG's shoulders dropped and his head followed in a sign of frustration, he turned and nodded to her, basically giving her the order to pass Forrest words through to the two pilots in the simulator, both of whom would have their notes on the test, in addition to hers. She hit the contact to reopen the commlink and tried to sound more chipper than she felt.

"Conference room, boys." She said, frowning as she picked up her notes and looked through the red marked issues she'd had. This was the worst test the Warp 5 team had ever run. Thankfully it wasn't one their Vulcan overlords had deigned themselves to come too. For every test she took her notes, that was part of her job, and she'd done that since the beginning. She carried them all through, and watched as the room filled around her. Engineers and technicians who had been peripherally involved in the test sitting down to see what the pilots had fucked up this time. They only ever came to the briefings for failed tests. Once everyone was seated, and the pilots had joined them in uniform, Forrest stood up and read out the names of those in attendance. After that he studied the three pilots for a second, before his gaze landed on her.

"I think we can all agree that this test wasn't the best we've ever done." He started, and the murmurs of assent from around them reminded her that there were still people expecting the project to fail. When they noise had died down, Forrest's eyes landed on the pilot in the middle. "What do you think went wrong, Commander Robinson?"

Erika felt a little awkward, she knew that it was common practice to ask the commander of a mission what had gone wrong, but AG wasn't the best at critiquing his own work. Sure enough, he leant forward and pointed out the obvious. "Well, sir, I think we were unprepared for the injector issue that was thrown in." She couldn't disagree, the injector issue had been a problem, but it hadn't been the first, nor had it been the biggest.

"Do you agree with that assessment, Commander Gardner. You were the flight pilot for this test, correct?" Forrest prompted, clearly wanting to move this briefing along as quickly as he could. Not that she could blame him. They would all want this to be reports and a minor blip by the time the Vulcans found out and tried to get Starfleet to abandon the project, again.

"Yes sir I was." He nodded then looked slightly apologetically to AG before continuing, and Erika was very interested in what exactly he was going to say. "Honestly, sir, I felt that the first mistake was made during the pre-launch preparation. There was no official order for an engineering check." Sam answered in a profession manner, and Erika found herself nodding along. That had been the first issue she'd noted as well. She was still nodding when AG sat forward and blocked her view of the other two officers.

"I assumed you didn't need an order for an obvious test to run in pre-flight!" He defended, it was clear he was feeling a little ganged up on. She shook her head though. That had been a major mistake, and it was clear Rob and Sam felt the same. She was about to say something when Rob beat her to it.

"You can't assume anything AG. You need to give the order regardless. Without it we could end up skipping something."

"Which is exactly what happened." She muttered, not realising that the entire hall had gone quiet, and her words were easily heard. Everyone turned to her a minute later and she knew she was going to have to explain further. "There was no stabilisation check done. Were that done the injector issue would have shown up and could have been fixed before the flight. It's not my job to tell you what you miss on these tests, it's my job to make notes and pass orders. Nothing more. Otherwise it's not an accurate test run."

"What if it was a live flight?" AG asked a little heatedly, and she found herself shrinking ever so slightly under the glare. This had been her job for 5 years, how had he never picked up on what she did in sim flights before? Before she could defend herself, Forrest stood up an brought the attention back to the front of the room.

"Commander Hernandez is correct, commander. During tests like this all her job is is to relay your orders and to make notes about that test and what could and should be done better." Forrest nodded to her and she took to her feet. Standing at the front of the hall to give her report.

"Alright, as Sam rightly identified. The initial failures of the mission today began when no Engineering check order was given, leading to a stabilisation test not being run. This crucial error led to the issue with the injector which neither the command team nor the pilots were prepared to address. The command issues are documented on the test recordings." She sat down a second later and shrugged as in the direction of AG. She wasn't going to apologise for doing her job. She sat through the remainder of the briefing, occasionally nodding and correcting points, but she already knew the one thing that was easily going to solve this problem, and it wasn't something technical, it was personnel. As soon as the briefing was over she jumped up and placed herself next to Forrest. "Commodore?" She said, before he had a chance to get away from her.

"How can I help you, Commander?" He replied, but the look on his face told her that he already knew exactly why she wanted to speak to him, and exactly what she was going to say. That wasn't going to stop her though, because she knew this was needed.

"You know what we could do to solve these issues." She said, almost making it seem like a question, rather than a statement, hoping that would throw him off longe enough to actually listen to her.

"What?" He sighed, looking weary. She knew she'd spoken to him many times about this, but it wasn't resolved a single time that she had brought this idea up.

"Bring Commander Archer back." She said simply, rather than dancing around it any further.

"We've talked about this, Erika." Forrest dropped her rank, again showing how often she had been on his office at the end of the day trying to get him to realise this was all they needed. She shook her head, knowing that this time it might very well be everything they needed, because they hadn't suffered a failure like this before. Either when Jon had been in the command centre or had been the flight pilot. He was more likely to ask question.

"Respectfully sir, we never spoke about it, not seriously. I would bring it up and you would shoot me down. This time, things are more obvious. AG forgets things, and Sam and Rob don't have the balls to question him. We never once had a failure from engineering issues when Jon was with us." She wondered if she should play her hidden card, what Jon had told her at Christmas. Or at least part of it. It might help convince Forrest. "Not only all that, but you also know that he would do more good over here than in hanger 6." Forrest continued walking through the hanger to his office, and she wondered if he'd finally had enough.

"What about Captain Jeffries' team? Are you saying he wouldn't do any good on that team."

"Honestly, sir, and with all respect to Captain Jeffries. A lot of the design elements Jon could help with have been ironed out, and his effectiveness there is in question." She grabbed the door before it slammed in her face, not giving up this time.

"How do you know that?" He asked, and it seemed she finally had his attention again. The suspicion on his face was unsurprising. Most of what was happening in hangar 6 was classified to the highest levels of Starfleet, a level she was not privy too. She put her most innocent expression on, but was certain he wasn't buying it. "Let me guess, Jon told you?"

"Something like that." She said noncommittally, not wanting to give away any more than she needed too.

"You know that normally I would disagree with you, and quite strongly, but this time I think you might actually be on to something. I will talk with Jon and Captain Jeffries." She fought the urge to punch the air at those words, hoping she didn't look too pleased with herself. "You are right, we didn't fail as many tests when Jon was with us. I'm not promising anything." He ended with. She smiled and almost ran out of the office after he dismissed her with a nod.

She didn't care if he couldn't promise that Jon would be transferred back. It was enough to know that he had finally seen what she'd been saying for months. That the Warp 5 team was worse off for not having Jonathan Archer on her. In a selfish way she would be glad to have him back, because she missed him. But so did the project.


	12. Chapter 12

**This is set between chapters 21 and 22 of TFM and was requested by basically all my friends.**

* * *

**June 2146**

It wasn't often he would slip into a group and nobody notice he was there, but this time he was definitely grateful for it. Whatever Veronica and Erika had been talking about, it was obvious Veronica was excited and Erika was embarrassed, so one way or another there was going to be something said that he would remember. "You should go on 'The Voice' or something."

"Yeah right, like I'd have time."

"But you are really good!" Veronica said once again, and all he could do was nod in agreement behind them, not really sure if the two of them had realised he'd joined them yet.

"I'm happy with the job I have now, doing musicals in college was all the showbiz I will ever need."

"Wait you did musicals?"

"Shit." She said, and it was obvious she hadn't realised he'd joined the two of them. Maybe she'd been hoping Veronica would keep it quiet, but that would have lasted all of half an hour alone with the other pilots. Sometimes he was sure Veronica was brilliant at keeping secrets. But more often than not she was terrible at it.

"Oh, come on now commander. What were you in?" He asked, a smile growing. He could just imagine her on a stage, it would definitely suit her. Not that he'd dare tell her that when it was quite obvious she hadn't actually wanted them to know.

"I did a few, normally in the chorus or one of the minor characters."

"Erika?" Veronica prompted again. Clearly not believing her.

"OK I was in Chicago and Mamma Mia. but I didn't play a main roll in Mamma Mia."

"But you did in Chicago?" He asked, and she just shook her head and looked at him. He wasn't quite sure what she was asking him to do, because he knew this wasn't going to be kept quiet for long. Not with Veronica knowing about it.

"Hey, guys, did you know Erika did musical theatre." Veronica shouted through the hangar, getting the attention of the three pilots who hadn't been privy to their conversation beforehand.

"What? Who cares?" Rob walked in the opposite direction to everyone else, unsurprisingly. He hadn't ever made an effort to get to know anyone at work too well, he'd be fine on nights out, but in the hangar he was focused.

"You're kidding?" Sam said, following the rest of the group, with AG bringing up the rear as he so often did.

"Wait, Erika, you can sing?"

"Oh trust me, she can sing." He nodded vigorously, trying to save Erika a little bit of embarrassment. He was fairly sure it wasn't working, and his shock that she'd managed to hide her musical theatre background from him was only just wearing off.

"You've heard her?"

"Yeah. She's good" He nodded, though he'd only heard her sing twice, once at her father's funeral years ago, and once only a few months earlier, when she'd agreed to babysit her niece for a few days and begged him to help.

"So, who were you in Chicago?" Veronica asked, trying to redirect the conversation back to what they'd been talking about before, and it was clear that Erika wasn't too pleased about it.

"I'm not saying who, if you guess I'll show you a video, if only to shut you all up."

"I don't think I'm ever going to shut up about it." He whispered so that only she could hear him, or so he thought. Forgetting that Veronica was on his other side.

"She won't hit you. OK. Process of elimination. You weren't Mama, or Roxie." Veronica started, and he had to agree with that, while she could probably have done a decent effort at either, she wasn't a great actress as far as he'd seen, he doubted either of them would have been very convincing.

"Why wouldn't I be Roxie?" Erika asked, a slightly offended tone to her voice.

"Because everyone underestimates Roxie, and nobody underestimates you."

"OK. Fair point."

"I can't see you just being one of the murderesses, and you've already said you have a singing part, so that only leaves Velma." He reasoned out, following on from Veronica's train of thought about Mama and Roxie.

"What even is Chicago?" AG asked, clearly looking more than a little confused.

"Have you never seen it AG? It's actually probably the musical you'd like most. It's about 6 female murderers in what, the 1930's?" Veronica said, looking to Erika for confirmation.

"Late 1920's, and yes, I was Velma." Erika looked between everyone, and the blush slowly rising up her cheeks reminded him that this probably wasn't as easy for her as she was making it sound.

"OK. I have to see this video, Jon let her get to the controls." Veronica said, sliding onto the edge of the console in front of the main screen.

"Are you sure?" he whispered as Erika came up next to him, he hadn't known she'd done theatre, but he did know that she was extremely self conscious about her singing, at least now that she was an adult, and he didn't want her to put herself in a position where she would feel embarrassed. She shook her head lightly and just reached for his hand, as if she needed that show of support for a moment.

"OK, I'll remind you, I was 20." She pressed the play button, and everyone was pulled into watching the video. From what he remembered of the musical it was the closing number, and one of the most famous of the whole thing. For a college production, they'd clearly put a lot of effort into the sets and costumes. He wondered if everyone else in the room was as mesmerised as he was. He still held her hand, and felt her eyes on the side of his face after a few minutes, he turned and gave her a smile, squeezing her hand hoping to show her that he was impressed, as he was absolutely certain everyone else would be.

"That was insanely good. How did you learn to do all that?"

"Six months of rehearsals whenever I wasn't in class with our stage director and choreographer." She shrugged, and he had to admit, it explained why she had no problem in staying at the project til 9 or 10 o'clock at night and still be there at 6am to open. Maybe she was a bit of an insomniac. Something he made a mental note of to ask her. "That wasn't even the most detailed dance. I had a few other solos with more complicated dances, and the tango was the hardest."

"Can we see any of them?" AG asked, still staring at the screen as if he'd been completely shocked into silence by learning that Erika could sing. It had always been hard for him to accept she could keep things hidden this long.

"I don't think the videos still exist. This one was put up by the girl who did play Roxie. I think she was a forensic science major."

"For the record, I'm with Ron, you should go on one of those talent shows." Jon said with a grin, and she fixed him with a glare, one that didn't phase him in the slightest. She gave him the same look a few times a day. He just kept grinning until she broke and smiled back at him.

"I'm too busy, I love my job here. Maybe one day, if I'm old and the programme doesn't work out. Anyway, now you've seen that you should all get back to work." She smiled, and it seemed that everyone in the room took that as a signal that she wasn't going to talk about it any further with them, he hoped that he might learn more about her singing and stage career, but he also knew better than to ask her right now. Right now she might actually kill him.

"Hey, EH."

"Yes, Sam." She sighed, clearly already beginning to get more than a little annoyed at what was going on, and all the people who now knew the one thing she'd managed to hide from the project for almost 6 years.

"You looked pretty hot in those outfits."

"Thanks." She said, and it was clear she wasn't sure whether it was actually a compliment or not.

"He's right you know." He muttered to her as everyone else filed out of the control room, back to whatever job they'd been doing before. Sam was right, she'd looked great in her costumes, and she'd clearly looked like she had been enjoying herself on the stage.

"That was 10 years ago, when I still had legs, and boobs."

"Oh believe me, you still have legs and boobs." He gave her a quick once-over, happy to know he could at least get away with it in this context.

"Get back to work, you pervert." She laughed, slapping him lightly with a PADD before turning and leaving, back to her own office. Veronica following her a second later, clearly nagging her about something, probably continuing the discussion they'd been having when he'd joined their conversation.

"I'll see you later." He grinned, all but determined that later on she was going to have to show him another one of those videos. He actually wasn't surprised to learn she'd done musicals, she'd always had the voice for it, and now he knew she had the moves too.


	13. Chapter 13

**This is set shortly after chapter 23 of TFM**

* * *

**June 2146**

It didn't surprise Jon that Erika was a little nervous about seeing her brother, she hadn't seen him for any length of time since their father had passed away. He watched her getting ready for the dinner she'd organised. She kept dropping things with her nerves, and Jon couldn't help but smile at her before going over to help her with her necklace.

"Don't be too nervous Rike." He muttered, taking the ends of the necklace and fastening it. He then kissed her neck, grinning as she sighed and let herself rest back against him. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered against her ear, "he's your brother, how bad could it be?" He asked, and a second later she span in his arms to face him.

"You don't understand, Jon. He said he had big news for me." She muttered, shaking her head.

"It could be good news, you have pretty big news for him too, now stop worrying." He tapped her on the nose before turning toward the front of the apartment. A second buzz echoed through the room causing Erika to drop her head against his shoulder with a sigh. "I'll answer it, you finish getting yourself ready." He grinned and walked out, running down the steps to the door. Who was there didn't surprise him at all, but it was clear the visitor hadn't planned on him answering. He opened the door and turned, bellowing up the stairs so Erika had a little warning. "It's Simon." He motioned for Simon to go ahead of him, looking on this as only being a good thing, he would be able to see Simon's reaction. Considering how awful it could go, it might be best that way. He wasn't sure if Erika's family would actually be happy with the two of them.

"I didn't expect you to be here, Jon?" Simon asked and Jon just shrugged as they walked up to the door and he pushed it open. "Is everything OK?"

"Oh, yeah. We were just talking a few things over." He smiled, not wanting to give something away before Erika had a chance to say it herself. He grinned as they managed to get through, and Erika joined them a second later.

"Simon, I didn't expect you here?" She asked, slipping onto the sofa, Jon turned and sat beside her, fairly sure she needed the support for now. Simon jumped into the chair.

"I got in early, didn't think you'd mind me stopping in?"

"No Si. I'm not annoyed, I just wasn't expecting you right now." She smiled and looked to Jon before turning back to Simon. "There is something I need to tell you, and might as well do it now." Simon looked between the two of them then started grinning before clapping his hands.

"Are you two finally together?" He asked with a laugh. Jon looked to Erika, whose chin seemed to have hit the floor. She looked between the two of them, and Jon understood her surprise. She had expected him not to be happy about the two of them. Simon laughed again while shaking his head. "Finally. Mama will be so happy. She's liked Jon since he brought you home when dad died."

"Neither of you have been very happy with anything I seem to have done recently?" Erika asked, slipping her hand into Jon's. He sat back, not sure if he wanted to get involved in the middle of something Erika clearly hadn't been ready to tell him about just yet. While he was sure he could say something to defend her, he wasn't sure it was his place to do so.

"Rike these days mama just wishes you were at home. But otherwise, recently, nobody thinks you make bad choices. Not anymore anyway." Simon shrugged despite the glare Erika gave him. Jon squeezed her hand, he knew she had a lot of issues with how she had felt her family saw her decision to stay in Starfleet. "Plus we all like Jon, I don't think anyone will complain at this." Simon grinned again, and Erika was the one to st forward while continuing to hold Jon's hand.

"Thanks Simon, that's a relief." Jon smiled then tugged Erika back gently, giving her a smile as he did.

"How long has this been going on?" Simon asked, sitting back and studying the two of them, and Jon couldn't help but grin.

"Almost a month now. I finally manned up and told her how much I cared." Jon couldn't help but look back at Erika and grin, even as she elbowed him in the ribs.

"It was worth the wait." She smiled and then looked to Simon again. "You said you had some big news?" She asked, and this time it was Simon's turn to grin, he stood up and pulled a card out of his pocket, handing it to Erika. She opened it and then nudged Jon, showing him the stills from what was clearly a baby scan.

"Maria and I are finally having a baby. We decided to wait until the company had started showing some growth. We're having a little girl. Carla." Jon looked up and saw the smile of a very happy man on Simon's face. He reached forward and shook Simon's hand, while it seemed like Erika was too stunned to speak for a few seconds. The she stood up and wrapped her arms around her brother.

"Well done, Si." She muttered then stepped back. "We really should go celebrate now."

"Are you coming, Jon?" Simon asked as Jon finally followed the two Hernandez's lead and stood up. He shook his head and motioned in the direction of the pile of PADDs on the table in front of them.

"I have far too much work to do, unfortunately. Probably best to let you two catch up." He grinned then accepted Simon's outstretched hand. Simon grinned then turned toward the door, letting them have a moment alone.

"Are you going to stay here?" She asked, looking at him seriously for a minute.

"Might as well, I'll get my work done and be here when you get back. Go have fun with Simon." He kissed her gently then gave her a push in the direction of the door, waving as Simon waved in his direction. Jon couldn't have been happier that it seemed everything was working out better for Erika than she'd expected. He watched her leave and suddenly wished he had been able to go. At least if he got his work done he'd be able to have a good night in with Erika tomorrow, and probably catch up on the gossip from New Mexico when they did. Maybe it was time he planned a trip to see his mother too.


	14. Chapter 14

**This is set between chapters 24 and 25 of TFM**

* * *

**October 2146**

Everything Erika had thought about Jonathan's family had turned out to be correct. She had to admit, watching Jonathan play some variant of football or rugby with his cousins and friends was a lot of fun. She hadn't quite figured out the rules, but they seemed to be having fun. The house was bigger than she imagined, and Jon was adamant that this had been his grandparents house when he'd been growing up. Reminding her that while he had been born here, he'd been raised in San Francisco. Always living there so that his fathers work wouldn't be disrupted. She was still thinking about that when she became aware of someone standing beside her. She looked round then smiled to Jon's mother, before refocusing on the game again.

They two women stood in silence for a moment before Sally Archer posed her first question to Erika. She had to admit, the woman was taller than she had expected, and the resemblance to Jon was striking. "How long have you known my son?" She asked, something that Erika hadn't planned on being asked.

"Just over six years." She smiled, and noticed the momentary shock on Sally's face. "We've been friends a long time, but we decided recently that we should just go for it." She looked down, trying not to take the surprise Sally was obviously feeling as a win. She looked back to the game, wondering if she should say anything else, wary that there were things that Jon might not want his mother to know.

"He cares a lot about you." Sally said, looking out over the game again, Erika thought about what Sally was saying, she knew that Jon cared for her, he'd been protective of her since the day they met. She wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to say, so instead stayed quiet, continuing to focus on the boys playing their game. The laughter carrying back to where the others were at the house. There were plenty of people milling about, but Erika hadn't felt the need to speak to anyone past introducing herself. Instead she'd watched people, or worked on the translation she'd brought with her. They were still stood in silence when Sally began talking again. "Jonathan has brought plenty of girls home, you must know that if you've known him so long."

"Yes ma'am," she nodded, trying not to remember the number of girls over the last few years that Jonathan had tried his hand with.

"He's different with you. He isn't trying to impress you like the other girls." Sally pulled a face, one that Erika wasn't certain she could read. Erika knew that Jon wasn't trying to impress her, probably because they'd known each other for so long. She knew everything about him, so there was little left for him to attempt to impress her with. She chuckled a little at the mental image of Jon trying to impress her, then caught Sally's look.

"Maybe because we've known each other for so long, he doesn't feel like he needs to impress me." She laughed as a memory hit her, of Jon sprawled out on her floor singing completely naked a few months earlier. The night she'd broken Rob's nose. "Once some has slept on your floor after a night out, the term 'impress' doesn't mean very much." She laughed, hoping that Sally would at least find it a little amusing, instead the rather stately and strict woman scowled, shaking her head in the direction of the scrummage in the garden. After a few minutes longer Erika turned to the taller woman who was either purposefully making her uncomfortable or was still making a decision on her sons new girlfriend. The one thing that seemed clear was that Sally wasn't going to move until Erika got passed some unknown test. She made the decision to address the attitude it seemed she was getting. "Look, I know you're worried because he's your only son, but I care very much for Jonathan, I always have."

"I'm sure you do. I just know the type of girls Jonathan brings home. They are all waitresses or bar-staff. Which are you?"

"Neither." Erika replied stiffly, hoping that her offence to the wording of the question was clear. She shook her head and handed Sally the PADD of Vulcan text she was translating, watching the expression change on the older womans face. "I'm a linguist and I speak more than 20 languages." She wasn't going to pretend that Sally didn't have a point about a lot of Jonathan's previous girlfriends, but she also wanted to point out that she shouldn't assume that all of Jon's girlfriends were going to be like that was a definite issue. "I know Jon doesn't always have the best choice in women, but don't assume that just because he dates someone they must be like that." She felt the need to defend the only one of Jon's girlfriends she had like, Mala, who had been a medical student. They hadn't lasted long, and Mala was the only one who had beaten Jon to the 'work' reason for breaking up.

"You're right, I apologise. A linguist?" Sally apologised, but Erika didn't entirely buy it, Sally just looked her over for a minute before speaking again. "I'm guessing that you're with Starfleet too?" Sally said, and Erika couldn't help but nod. Her training had taught her to be polite, even when she didn't want to be. "I am sorry for the assumption."

"That's alright. I do understand." She smiled, picking Jon out again in the mess of bodies that was whatever game they were still playing. "Jon has a type, and I don't exactly fit it. But so far we seem to be making it work." She smiled and then shrugged, a second later Sally nodded and turned away, leaving Erika to watch the game in peace. A few minutes later she noticed someone else standing by her shoulder, but this time got a far friendlier hello.

"You must be Erika, right? Jon's girlfriend?" A smiling woman asked, Erika nodded, already getting a nicer vibe. "I'm Leah, Jon's aunt. I think you know my son. Ryan."

"Oh, yes. Sorry." She bobbled her head a little in a confused gesture before saying anything else. "I'm meeting so many new people, it's hard to keep everyone straight. They both shared a laugh, and Erika allowed herself to be pulled onto the lawn sofa behind them.

"I hope Sally didn't give you too hard a time." Leah said, again smiling a little before shrugging. "Since Henry died Jon's all she has, and despite him being in his 30's Sally still looks on him as being her baby. I don't think she's ready for him to be an adult." Leah laughed again, and finally Erika understood a little more, remembering how her own mother was.

"My mother is the same with me. My father died a few years ago, and since my brother was already married, I'm the baby and she wants to protect me." The thought of her mother made her suddenly miss home even more. She made a mental decision that next time they got leave they were going seeing her family.

"If I lost Tommy I'd probably be the same." Erika nodded, and looked up, seeing Jonathan jogging in their direction. They both smiled as he dropped to the grass in front of them and put his hands on Erika's feet.

"Hey aunt Leah." He said, grinning up between the two women, clearly nervous about what they'd been talking about. She shared a look with Leah before grinning, making Jon even more nervous, she hoped.

"You should pay more attention, Jonathan. I had to save her from a second grilling from your mother." Leah stood up and shook Erika's hand as she did. "Was lovely to meet you, don't be so worried about speaking to people next time you're here."

"Yes ma'am, thanks." She smiled after Leah then looked to Jon, who clearly didn't have the energy to stand up from the grass and just put his hands on her legs and rested against her knees. She ran her fingers through his hair, smiling a little at getting a quiet moment, and hoping that he didn't leave her alone again for a while. She wasn't quite ready for all of his family to question her. Not yet at least.


	15. Chapter 15

**This is set after chapter 26 of TFM**

* * *

**January 2147**

She watched as the prototype was slowly pulled back into her original position. Erika had to admit that she was looking forward to seeing that particular pilot, she was unsure if she was going to hug him or hit him. While she knew it wasn't really his fault, she had still been worried, and she wasn't the most rational person when worried.

"Don't often see you here out of uniform." Veronica commented as she stopped beside her. Erika looked at the chrono on her wrist then smiled, nodding to the ship that had finally come to a rest.

"I got off at six, and I decided that civvies would be best to welcome Jon back in." It was only just after six, but the minute she had been able to clock out she had, and had then changed and stood here watching them pull the ship in. "I just want to see him. It's stupid." she smiled at Veronica then shook her head.

"You had a big scare, I think it's natural" Veronica said with a grin, then nudged her gently with her shoulder. "Have you decided how you're going to greet him yet?" She asked a second later, and Erika couldn't help but stare at her, wondering how she'd known there had been that particular internal debate.

"You know me too fucking well, lieutenant Fletcher." She laughed a second later, then looked back toward the ship. "Not yet, but I think we're all about to find out." She said, stepping down as the hatch in the prototype opened. She kept control of herself until he had his helmet off, then she couldn't help herself. She ran straight toward him and smiled when he caught her and held onto her as tightly as he could in the bulky flightsuit he still wore. He hadn't let her go even a little when he addressed Veronica over her shoulder.

"I take it the debrief is tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Forrest wants to be there and he already had an afterhours meeting." Veronica grinned in their direction before walking away and taking the engineers with her. Jon finally let Erika go, slipping his hand into hers and pulling her along with him to the locker room.

"You're an ass" She finally said, getting over her relief at seeing him, enough to call him out on the fact she'd been afraid. She smiled a little at the look of confusion on his face as he unzipped the flight suit and stepped out of it. As soon as he'd hung it up he walked to her and pulled her against his chest again, kissing her as hard as he could. He pushed her up against the nearest wall, lifting her higher into his arms as he did. It took her a few minutes to remember they were at work, in a public place. After another few seconds she broke the kiss and gave him a headshake when he tried to start again. "Jonathan, we're at work." She muttered, kissing him once before poking his hand to let her down. He gave her another little kiss before he turned round and pulled his civilian clothing toward him.

"In my defence, being at work hasn't always stopped us before." He grinned, and she threw a sock at the goofy smile he put on. "You still want to go for that meal?" He asked a second later, a suggestive smile on his face.

"Maybe we could get takeout on the way home?" She grinned and had to admit that his idea had merit. He returned the grin and picked up the duffel bag that now contained both their uniforms, realising that she would need to do a load of washing when they got home. When had it got to the point she was doing his laundry? Did it matter? He tried his best to make her laugh as they set off on the way home, she didn't know exactly what they were both thinking, but they walked past every food place on the way home, and by the time they got home she had completely let him take over, not that she minded. The second the door was closed she was up against it. Obviously the worries that had been sparked by the near disaster of the day had caused her to be completely irrational when it came to him.

"Rike, I'm sorry about worrying you today." He muttered into the crook of her neck. Holding onto her as tightly as he could. "If it helps, it scared me too." He muttered, continuing to kiss her neck and shoulder as he did.

"I guess that helps a little, I guess." She muttered wondering what else he would be able to talk her into right now. "Jonathan, you know I love you, right?" She asked, almost certain she didn't need to tell him. She loved him and he knew, she was certain of that, but after today she needed to tell him anyway.

"Of course I know that, I love you too. I have for so long."

"We really should order food, because otherwise you're going to run out of steam for what I planned tonight." She grinned as he let her down with another kiss and another smile. "What did actually happen today?" She asked, only wanting to know that she knew something couldn't have been done to prevent it.

"There was an issue with the stabilisers that knocked the subspace antenna out. The stabilisers are always a problem." He complained looking her over again while shaking his head. "Someone really needs to bring that up with the engineers." He grinned, stepping away, something she was glad of. She wasn't sure she could keep her hands off him.

"I'm fairly sure that falls under the remit of 'Lead Pilot', which I believe is your job." She grinned, picking up a menu and slipping onto the sofa. He followed her lead a second later, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Though a second later he pulled the menu from her hands and headed into the kitchen, leaving her looking after him. "I hadn't picked anything!" She shouted, and resisted throwing her shoe at his head when he came back into the room.

"Erika, you've had the same thing from that place every time we've gone there for the last six years. You aren't going to change now." She had to curse how well she knew him. She wouldn't have changed, and she reluctantly allowed him to pull her into his arms. "I am sorry that you were worried today."

"It wasn't really your fault. We broke warp 4 though. I'm proud of you." And she really was, there might have been worries, and the might have decided against dinner ut, but the test had been successful and Jonathan was fine. That was what she had to focus on, and she knew that this was probably the wake up they both needed in order to move forward. Things weren't the same now, and they had to adjust to that.


	16. Chapter 16

**This is set direct after chapter 28 of TFM**

* * *

**November 2147**

She had truly hated the last week, and because of that she was really glad to be walking along the street toward home. She had missed being home, she looked toward her doorstep and recognised the lump collapsed on her stoop. She just smiled as she got to the steps and looked down on him.

"Well this wasn't quite the 'welcome home' I expected," she muttered, about to poke him when he sat up and wrapped his arms around her legs with a grin. He had gotten her good, she admitted, as she slid down and leant against him on the step. "OK then, that's better." She said, nuzzling into his neck, and admitting to herself that it did feel nice to be back in his arms.

"I didn't just sit here waiting for you to get home." Jon's face was a picture of innocence at those words. "No, that would be pathetic." He grinned, standing up and grabbing her bag as she opened the door to the stairway. He waited for her to catch up on the landing to her apartment before asking, "how was Ben Nevis?"

"Believe me, Jon. If one of us is pathetic, it's me." She tried to look as if she wasn't overjoyed to have seen him again as soon as she got home, though it was probably as obvious to him as his happiness at seeing her was. She thought about how to answer the question about survival training, it had been what it always was, training. "Ben Nevis was cold, mostly." She grinned, as far as she knew he hadn't done his training on the British mountain, preferring the warmer climes for it.

"Did you pass?" He asked as she opened the door to her apartment and let him past. He dropped her bag and pulled her into his chest, holding her tight. She grinned up at him and shook her head, trying to tell him that he had asked a stupid question.

"Of course. Though I think Veronica terrified a lot of junior officers." She rested her head in the crook of his neck, just breathing in the scent that made him completely individual to her, and how she always knew when he was coming. "I missed you." She muttered, and smiled as his arms tightened slightly around her.

"That was mutual, believe me. AG accused me of 'moping around' all week." He chuckled, and she smiled at the vibrations it caused against her nose. She looked around a second later and spotted the telltale signs of Jon having been staying at her apartment. A second later he let her go and smiled, picking up a beer bottle from the table. "Ryan invited friends to stay at our place, I didn't think you'd mind me staying here?" She shook her head with a smile, and wondered if maybe, just maybe, Jon had helped make her decision easier. If he felt comfortable enough to stay there when she wasn't home, he would surely be happy to live with her too. Considering he rarely left anyway.

She fell onto the sofa a minute later, resting her feet on the coffee table in front of her. She was still debating what she'd say to him when she realised she'd started speaking. "You know. Veronica gave me a good idea while we were away. I think she only said it to cheer me up, but she might be on to something." She finished, almost certain that this was entirely the wrong way to approach the question, but not knowing how else she'd do it.

Jon slid onto the sofa beside her a second later, mirroring her stance and looking at her seriously. She wasn't sure how to continue, so just kept looking at him until he prompted her. "What did Veronica suggest?"

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she pulled herself together. "We've been together a while now-" She started, and was unsurprised at Jonathan interrupting her at those words.

"The greatest 18-months of my life," he smiled and took a hold of her hand, she knew he was trying to help her focus, but she wasn't sure it was working.

"Exactly. Well. Veronica and I were talking about how much I miss you on the rare nights apart and how hard it is for me to sleep when you're not there." She stopped for another deep breath, and this time Jon didn't interrupt, something she was thankful for. She had finally found her rhythm, and knew what she was going to say. "I thought a lot about her suggestion over the last few days, and I mean a lot, and I realised that she was right, completely right."

"Rike, I love when you ramble like this, but you're starting to scare me." He looked at her with a truly worried look. She leant forward and kissed him gently before smiling, holding his eye contact.

"Move in with me, Jonathan." She smiled, resting her forehead against his. She held his eye line as she watched him work though he surprise. As long as they'd known one another she had always been the one stalling, the one slowing things down. But this was something she was completely sure of, in fact there was very little she wanted more.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times before actually looking like he might have the ability to speak again. "This is a surprise." He said, the shock still on his face. "Are you sure this is what you want, Erika?" He asked, and she thought of every argument she'd made with herself. She knew what she wanted.

"I've never wanted something more. I thought a lot about it, but think about it. We always come here after work, we always spend the night, literally every night we're not out of the city. Why shouldn't we live together?"

"You've put a lot of thought into it." He said, and she sat back watching him. "Are we ready for it, it's a big move forward for us."

"Do you want to do this or not?" She countered, looking at him again. "I love you, you love me. Is there anything else we need." She knew she was going for the hard sell, But she knew she needed too. "Jump into this with me, Jon. You're not normally the one worrying." She grinned and tried to put a confident smile on. Hoping that it passed on to Jon.

After a few more seconds, Jon's whole face changed, and she knew she'd won him over in the end. He took hold of her hand again and grinned back at her. "OK. I agree with you. In principle." He shook his head, but she took it as a win. She jumped forward and kissed him again, hard, wrapping her arms around him. She pulled back a few minutes later to let him finish speaking. "We need to sort some things out, but I would love to move in with you."

"Did you have to make me wait so long to let me off the hook." She teased as he pulled her into his lap.

"I have to keep you on your toes, Rike." He muttered before kissing her deeply. She wasn't going to disagree with that. He did like to keep her guessing, and that was a good thing. It meant that nothing was ever routine. She fell in love with him a little more every time they fought and made up. She couldn't imagine a more natural continuation for them, and Veronica had been right all along.


	17. Chapter 17

**This is set before chapter 30 of TFM**

* * *

**April 2148**

She walked into her, wait - their, apartment and was once again surprised by how clean it was. While she could never claim to be the cleanest of people, Jon was a little bit of a neat freak. It was something always suspected of him, after seeing his office and his old apartment, but until now it hadn't been confirmed. That wasn't the most annoying habit Jon had brought with him when he'd moved in. There were a lot of habits, and most she had no issue with or had learnt to live around. Some though, some made her want to throw things at him until he stopped doing it.

She dropped her bag by the door and her hand searched out her hidden stash of goodies. Things she kept in a drawer by the door just in case she had a bad day and needed an instant pick-me-up when she walked through the door. Her goodie drawer was suspiciously light, and clearly empty, and her decision to confront Jon about his organisation habit was made for her. He could touch almost anything in the apartment, but she needed that drawer and the chocolate it contained.

She took a deep breath and willed herself not to scream, then shouted through the apartment, certain that the chocolate thief would show his face one she did. "Jonathan!" She bellowed, and sure enough a second later he came through the kitchen. A smile on his face, at least until he saw the expression on hers.

"Erika?" He asked, clearly realising she wasn't in the best of moods, he took a few steps toward her. "Are you OK? Bad day?" His face was the picture of innocence, and that just made her want to scream.

"Very bad day, and my chocolate drawer appears to be empty." She growled, trying not to get further annoyed. She knew it wasn't necessarily his fault, her bad day certainly wasn't, but the fact that Jon had done so much to clear and change the apartment, along with all the other little annoyances of the weeks, were too much for her to bear. "Jon, I thought you said you weren't going to do this?" She said, maybe with a touch too much accusation.

"Who keeps a drawer full of chocolate by their front door?" He asked, clearly feeling defensive of his rearrangement. She wondered briefly if he had had as bad a day as she had and this was his way of coping. "Your chocolate is in the kitchen." He finished, and that was the logical place for it. But she wasn't ready to let it off.

"It's not really about the chocolate, Jon." She snapped. It wasn't, it was about so much more. All the little habits that drove her to the edge. Or maybe it was just about her bad mood. Either way she was probably going to complain til she was calm again. "It's about you organising everything in the apartment. I've lived here nearly 8 years. Everything had a place, I know I'm not nearly as neat as you, but I still put things where it made sense to me!" She shouted, just watching him as he put down the plate she hadn't even noticed he'd been holding and squared his shoulders.

"Some of your places didn't make sense to anyone but you, Rike." He called back, sounding far more in control than she was, but still clearly annoyed at her. "I'm organising things so that a sane person can find them." He shouted, and she just growled completely unimpressed with his argument.

"Are you saying that I'm insane?" She asked, hands on her hips as she did. "I'm not the one who passes ideas through the neighbourhood dog, or tap my teeth when I'm thinking, or who has to war the same set of blues for every test." She snapped at him, and knew she was probably being more than a little harsh, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. By the time she collapsed on the sofa a second later she was fairly sure she was ranted out. She had no recollection of how she got there either. She looked up as Jon came and kneeled on the floor in front of her, holding out a bar of chocolate from her stash. The surprise of the gesture made her laugh, and that was it, her mood was broken.

He put his hands on her legs and let her eat a bit of the chocolate before he said anything. "It must have been one hell of day." He muttered, giving her a gentle smile. She reached out and stroked his cheek. He watched her as she finished off the chocolate before he spoke again. "I know I have some annoying habits, you do too. Like clipping your toenails on the bed, or completely ignoring the laundry basket and throwing your uniform into the corner of the room. But for every really annoying habit you have, you have a habit I love. Like how you chew your hair when you're lost in thought, or how you love to cuddle when we're falling asleep. Everything is a trade off. And I love you, annoying habits and all." He smiled and leant forward to kiss her, cheering her up more than the chocolate bar ever could have done.

"I'm sorry Jonathan." She said a minute later, hoping that he knew she hadn't actually meant what she'd said. It was nearly all the bad day talking. He just pulled her off the sofa and into his arms. She smiled as he held her tightly against him, wrapping his arms around her tighter. "I really do love you. I guess this is all a learning curve." She grinned as he squeezed her lightly.

"Yeah, and I did learn something." He grinned before leaning forward and kissing the tip of her nose.

"Oh you did, did you?" She asked, laughing at the stupidly goofy look on his face.

"I should put the chocolate back in the cabinet by the door." She gave him a slightly questioning look at that, considering only a few minutes earlier he'd told her that only insane people kept it by the door. He shrugged before expanding on what he meant. "For your sanity and my safety." He laughed with another shrug, then he kissed her again.

Everything that had happened tonight would have been avoided had she had that chocolate, that was all that was needed, and as Jon wrapped his arms around her tighter she realised that this was worth it. Worth every annoying habit, because she wouldn't change this for the world. So even if it didn't seem like it sometimes, it was worth it.


	18. Chapter 18

**This is set just before chapter 31 of TFM**

* * *

**October 2148**

There was so much going on in her life right now, and sometimes she just wished she could talk to someone. She and Jonathan had made the decision to keep everything just between the two of them for all the right reasons, but she still wished she could speak to someone else. They were making a huge life altering decision, and he had been on the Omega training missions this week, right when she was still wrapping her mind around it still. She hadn't even told her mother, though that might have been for the best in the long run. While she loved her mother, there would be a level of involvement that she wasn't quite ready for. The same could be said for Jon's mother, and Simon for that matter. Simon particularly, as he was still getting used to being a father himself.

Erika had never really seen herself as the mothering type, she' never been comfortable around kids, especially babies. But somehow Jon had convinced her that the two of them having one was a good idea. Even if they were only trying, there was no turning back now. She had stopped her birth control, and it would be wearing off now. Suddenly, she looked up realising she'd been walking on autopilot. Finding herself in the cafeteria. Maybe not the best place in the complex for introspection, but he was actually hungry, and if she looked busy enough maybe everyone would ignore her and allow her to continue thinking.

The table she picked was out of the way, and after pulling a random PADD out of one of her pocket, she stared at it with a spoon in her other hand, and went straight back to thinking. Her mind wandered back to her previous thoughts. With the way Jon's career happened to be going, if they did have a child, she'd be left on Earth with the baby. While that wasn't necessarily a problem, it did strike her as something maybe the should have thought about before. It did play on her mind a little. She wasn't sure if it was something she was ready to do.

"Earth to Erika." Came a voice from above her, jolting her from her thoughts. She looked up and smiled Veronica, who put down her tray and looked seriously own at Erika. "You seemed pretty far away?" She asked as she sat down, leaving the question open for Erika to answer if she wanted, but she just shook her lightly and smiled.

"I was just thinking." She said, not sure if she wanted to expand on it any further. Not yet anyway. While she wanted someone to talk too, she still wasn't sure if it was worth _telling_ someone. Especially if it didn't work, then she was just worrying for no reason. Plus, Jon would be back from the training mission within 24 hours, maybe even tonight, and she would be able to talk it all through with him again, and it wouldn't be as isolating as their empty apartment had been for the last week.

"Wanna talk about it?" Veronica offered, and Erika realise she'd drifted into thinking again. She shook her head violently, trying to briefly dislodge the topic from her mind.

"It's nothing, how was the reserve test?" She asked, wondering how the second string Warp 5 team had dealt with the pressure of not having the varsity team there. She had even stepped away from the test, knowing that she would have skewed the results. They'd only been using the simulator, thankfully. Nobody had been willing to risk a prototype on a junior test.

"It was a disaster." Veronica laughed, then started explaining why, the discussion was great for taking her mind off of her personal life, especially once Veronica started explaining the more humourous mistakes by her fellow juniors. The laughter was contagious, and soon enough she was in pain from laughing so hard. As the story ended and the laughter trailed off, Veronica looked over Erika with worry again. Erika was certain her friend could tell there was something going on, and because of that she couldn't really blame her for being worried. She wasn't often the one who was introspective. At least not to this level. "OK, Erika, are you actually going to tell me what's going on in that lovely mind of yours?" She pressed, and Erika had to think again about including Veronica in what she was thinking about.

"It's nothing, honestly. I'm just second guessing myself." She muttered, telling the truth, just not expanding on what she was doubting. Letting Veronica draw her own conclusion.

"You two still adjusting to living together?" Veronica asked, and Erika nodded absentmindedly, agreeing with the thought. As Veronica began gathering the remains of her food, she looked to Erika seriously again. "I know that it's a lot to adjust to. But it's obvious to all of us that you and Jon are made for each other. Just be patient and trust your judgement. It will get, I'm sure of that." She grinned and turned away before Erika could say anything. Inadvertently giving Erika just the advice she'd needed to hear. She knew that Jon loved her, and they had actually fallen into a routine. She had missed him more than she would have thought this week while he'd been on the Omega training missions.

Almost the minute she thought about the training missions, she heard a group of familiar voices, and looked up to see the crew of that test coming in, clearly on a break from debriefing. She smiled over at the as AG pointed her out sat in a corner to Jon. When he turned round to her she saw his face split into a grin. Before anyone could stop him he'd dropped his lunch and ducked out of the line, almost jogging in her direction. The minute he was beside her table he leant down and kissed her as hard as he could in such a public place. She smiled at him as he pulled back and sat in the space Veronica had vacated, and waving off the rest of the mission crews, clearly showing he wanted to speak to her.

He smiled, studying her, and she began to feel a little like a science experiment. Everyone staring at her. He reached for her hand and squeezed it before he said anything. She didn't know what he was originally going to say, but the only words that fell out of his mouth were "I've missed you." They were the only words she'd needed to hear, and she realised that maybe a lot of her insecurity had been just because she'd missed him. Veronica had been right, as usual, they'd figure it out.


	19. Chapter 19

**This is set between chapters 34 and 35 of TFM**

* * *

**November 2149**

The briefing room was full of officers, as it often was for captaincy announcements, and he was ready for it, he thought. Even though it was going to cost him something else, another thing he had waited for. He could have turned the offer down, stayed a commander, maybe served as the ships XO, but he had promised Erika that he wouldn't do that. So he had accepted, and they had tried to pack as much into their last month together as they could. He had hoped she'd be here, just to give him that last little boost he needed right then. Actually, he couldn't see any of his warp 5 colleagues in the crowd. He wasn't sure there was a reason they wouldn't be there, this was as much a celebration of their efforts as it was for him. He was looking at the doorway as Sam, Jack, Veronica and Rob came through. He had hoped that Erika would follow them, but there was no sign of her, and the three men waved in his direction while Veronica came toward him. He hoped he didn't look as nervous as he felt, and that Veronica wasn't going to tell him that Erika wasn't coming, not that he could blame her if she felt she was in an uncomfortable position she would run away from it. He knew her well enough to know that. He took a breath as Veronica stopped beside him, seeming to realise his worry.

"She's coming. She was a little emotional, AG stopped to talk to her." Veronica glared at him for a second and then shook her head, clearly unable to fathom what was happening between her friends. "You two know what you're going to do?"

"We don't have all that much choice, do we?" He shook his head a little, not sure if he was ready to get into this, but knowing that Veronica was owed an explanation too. "It's inappropriate for us to stay together." He said, hoping that his sadness and regret came through in his words. He still held some hope that one day rank wouldn't matter when you loved someone. Maybe he should have married Erika while he had had the chance. He sighed and looked at Veronica. "I know, it's a stupid rule, and I already miss her. Even though I haven't moved out yet, we've not even really broken up yet. I don't think so at least." He shook his head as Veronica reached out and squeezed his arm.

"Maybe you don't need too. You're gonna be up in dock then out exploring, and we're going to be on Republic." She reasoned, and he had to admit that he'd thought about that at one point. But after the last few years he wasn't sure he'd be able to survive a long distance relationship.

"I think we have a working agreement, when she gets her own ship I'll look her up and we'll see if we still have a spark." He smiled at that, then spotted Erika and AG come through the door. AG gave Erika a little push then waved to him. Veronica smile and squeezed his arm again before heading to join the rest of the Warp 5 team at their seats. He just watched Erika make her way toward the table he was stood beside. He closed his eyes a second before she got there, just wanting to memorise every movement she made. It was something he'd done a lot the last few weeks. "I was worried you weren't coming." He muttered as soon as she was close enough to hear him. She gave him a withering look then shook her head.

"Did you really think I would leave you high and dry, Jon?" She asked, and he had to admit maybe he had been a little stupid to assume that she wasn't coming.

"I was just panicking. I've planned something for tonight." He smiled, and she grinned back. He hoped that meant she'd agree to come with him. The last day or so she'd been avoiding him, for obvious reasons. But tonight he just wanted to be with her. "Can we just spend the last bit of our time together?" He asked wanting to know what she thought.

"Sure, Jon. I'm just trying to get used to this whole situation. It's an odd one to be in." She smiled sadly and he understood why. It was strange for them both, probably worse for her, since she hadn't made the decision, he had, even though she had told him what he should do.

"So we're on for tonight?" He asked once again. Just wanting to be sure. She nodded with the first real smile she'd given him in a few days. She leant up and kissed his cheek a second later.

"I'll see you at home." She stepped back and smiled again, that same hint of sadness behind it. "I love you." She said, and he resisted the sudden urge he had to pull her into him, just so he could hold her. He stopped himself at taking hold of her hand tightly.

"I love you too." He smiled, then squeezed her hand. It did hurt him a little, to know that tonight was the last thing they might get to do together. He frowned as she dropped his hand and headed to her seat alongside the rest of their team. A few hours later the ceremony was over, and he had a new pip on his collar and a new rank before his name. After the first briefing for his new ship, his _Enterprise_, he walked back to the hangar. He grinned as AG was the first to see him, a smile growing on his friends' face.

"The Captain is here." He shouted, and everyone turned to him and applauded. He held his hands up as everyone turned to him and applauded. Jon held his hands up as everyone came together around him, "so, what are we doing tonight?" AG asked. Jon couldn't blame them, after something like this the team often did go out, but his mind was made up, and he was ready to tell them.

"Nothing, not as a team at least. Maybe this weekend." He held his hands up again as everyone had started complaining, and instead fixed his gaze on one person. "Tonight I only want to spend with one person, and that is not you." He teased as he looked to AG. Everyone nodded and started talking as usual, even as Erika made her way around the throng to stand next to him. He wrapped his arm around her as he thought that maybe they should be careful at work right now, but he wasn't ready to let her go, because he already missed her.


	20. Chapter 20

**This is the last chapter of this set. No doubt over the course of this Neb has come up with more things she'd like to see, so I'm not going to claim it's the end of the NX programme stories. Though probably the next groups will be focusing more on the supporting players. Anyway. This is set between chapters 34 and 35 of TFM.**

**Following this story, I'll be posting my drabbles, there will be a LOT of chapters in that. Probably heading up to 400 and they will all either be Jon/Erika or Trip/Hoshi in pairing. With a few other characters thrown in for fun. Hope you join me in that! Shin xx**

* * *

**Late November 2149**

She wasn't really sure if she was ready to do this, she already put it off for almost a week. Well, they'd put it off, together. Because that was what they both needed, to pretend that nothing was changing. To her it was simultaneously impossible to ignore and easy to forget Jonathan's new rank. This morning she was just propped up in the bed beside him, contemplating things, and all the while knowing that their friends would be arriving soon to help move Jon's boxes. Her thoughts just kept getting stuck on the fact she didn't really want him to leave. She loved him, a change in rank couldn't end that.

"Erika, what are you thinking?" He suddenly asked from beside her, and she just looked down to him. She hadn't even realised he was awake. He clearly had been a while, laid on his side just watching her. She reached down and took hold of the hand that was on her leg, then slid down to actually lay beside him.

"I'm just dreading today. I wish none of this mattered." She muttered, knowing now that she really was dreading him leaving. Not because she needed him to be there, but because she _wanted_ him to be there, and she didn't want to lose him. There was no real way around it though. "We've spent so long together, longer as friends, and I'm just afraid it will end up being awkward and that I'll lose you altogether." There was no reason for her to lie and hide what she felt from him, she never had before, and she wasn't going to now. He just picked up her free hand and kissed it as he studied her, she felt like he could see right through her, to all the issues she had right now, and she was quite alright with him doing so. After a few seconds he smiled softly and shook his head.

"I know, I'm scared too, I don't want to lose you, so we'll both just have to make sure we don't." He grinned, running a hand up her arm. "In a few weeks, I'll be focusing on my ship, and you'll be on _Republic_. We would be separated then anyway." He whispered as he pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her. "I love you, and that is never going to change. But we agreed that we wouldn't break the rules. When we get chance we can do more, I know things aren't always going to work out, but we will."

He continued trying to raise her spirits, he started kissing up her arm and her neck, she just pulled him over her. They both needed the closeness, they'd used this to reaffirm their feelings as long as they'd known each other, and almost ten years of knowing one another, this was still the easiest way for them to express what they had. They kept as close to each other as they could, and as she rested her face in the crook of his neck as she often did as they built up to an end, she just smiled a little, letting him wrap her up again. Pulled tight against his front, his fingers threaded through hers in front of her stomach. They just laid together, giving her another few minutes to think, maybe not the healthiest thing for her to be doing at the moment.

"Jon?" She muttered, feeling him sigh happily against her ear before squeezing her again, showing her that she had his attention. "What do you think is going to happen on your ship?" She asked, taking the plunge. She wanted to know his hopes for the mission he'd been tasked with, and on this side of his future. She rolled over in his arms, wanting to see his face as he thought about it. She had to admit that the excited smile he wore was something she enjoyed seeing on his face.

"I can't be certain, but I just hope that we'll find some new species, and some new planets I just want to get exploring. I want to see as much as I can." He pulled her closer again so that he could kiss her softly. "You'll get out there one day soon, Rike. You'll see it too." He muttered, but all she could do was shake her head.

"Maybe, but let's focus on you first." She laughed, then looked over his shoulder, trying to see the clock. She knew that they really needed to stop talking and get out of bed. "Come on Jon, we can't stay here all day, unfortunately. AG and Veronica will be here in-" She squinted at the clock and groaned seeing the time. "Ten minutes."

"We should get up then." Jon grinned, kissing her neck as he did. It took all her self-control to roll away and smile at him from where she was waiting, stood beside the bed. "Come on Rike." He moaned, stopping when she threw his last set of clothes at him, pulling her pants on. Just as she got her shirt on she heard the buzzer announcing visitors. She turned back to Jon who had flopped onto the bed again. She pulled the covers off the bed then walked to answer the door. Hoping Jon would get dressed now she was out of the room.

Seven hours later, Jon's belongings had all been transferred to his old apartment that his cousin had not long since decided to leave to Jon, pretty much a month earlier when Jon had said he'd be moving back in. She wanted to avoid the goodbye she knew was coming. When he left, they would have no professional reason to see each other. She had been officially reassigned to _Republic_ from the NX Programme, even though the ship wasn't yet in dock. She walked them to the door, saying a quick goodbye to AG, then standing in the corridor she turned to Jon, trying not to cry, again. She had already cried about this enough on her own, and she wasn't about to do it again.

"I love you, you know that don't you?" She asked quietly, just needing to say it again. She was rarely the one to say it first, and that was probably something she would need to work on. Maybe. Jon just smiled, opening his arms for her to wrap herself around him.

"I love you, see you soon." He pulled back and kissed her once before he turned to jog down the stairs. She turned back into the apartment, glad when Veronica handed her a glass of wine and a spoon before smiling sadly.

"You miss him already?" She asked, and all Erika could actually do was nod. She wasn't sure she had the self-control to say anything about what was going on in her mind. The wine and ice-cream would no doubt help with that. Now she was just going to focus on her career, and show that she had been able to do it for a while.


End file.
